The Lovely Tales Collection
by HowDoYouDoop
Summary: A series of drabbles detailing the snuggly domestic life of Sasuke, Naruto and their daughter, Natsuki.
1. Chapter 1

_AN: This is a drabble collection that La Vita a Colori and I worked on a while ago. We lovingly dubbed it the Raburi-verse for it is our own little universe full of lovely and silly but you can call it The Lovely Tales Collection. __Its a spinoff-like series from a Hinata centric fic, 'The Wind' (written by me) although this one revolves around Sasuke, Naruto and their daughter, Natsuki. It is pretty much self contained so it's not__ necessary to read 'The Wind' to get whats going on here, its mostly just simple little things of love)._

_So yeah, here you will find fuwa fuwa Natsuki drabbles, snippets of Sasuke and Naruto's highschool lives- 'The Early Years' and raburi stuffs in general :) Nothing too serious, just lotsa fluff_!

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**Lovely #1**

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In their small kitchen Naruto stood, canary yellow apron tied at his waist, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, cooking chopsticks in one hand. The wordless tune he was humming to himself came to a questioning stop as he looked up to find his daughter in the doorway, sleepy and messy in the octopus onesie she had insisted on sleeping in.

"Natsuki, you're up early. Did Papa wake you with the shower?" The blond smiled at the tiny girl standing rubbing her eyes. She yawned widely and tottered over to stand next to Naruto.

"Showers are loud, Daddy," she told him, mumbling. Naruto chuckled and quickly finished placing the rest of the food into the bento he was making before heaving Natsuki onto the counter with one arm so she could see.

"Hm, I've gotten pretty good at this, haven't I," Naruto said cheerfully, brushing baby curls off of Natsuki's forehead as she nodded dutifully in agreement. "Now I just need to…" The man cast around for a pen as he pulled a piece of notepad toward him.

A few quiet moments passed as Naruto carefully wrote in his neatest handwriting with Natuski watching.

"I made you lunch, have a good day, Papa. Love, Daddy," Naruto read aloud and signed it with a heart. Beside him Natsuki cocked her head.

"Wassat?" Naruto blinked. Was there a character she wanted to know how to read? His eyes wandered the note until they rested on the slightly misshapen heart.

"This?" he asked, pointing to it. The child nodded. Naruto smiled fondly and lowered himself to lean on his arms on the counter.

"It's a heart Natsuki, you use it when you want to tell someone you love them."

"And you love Papa?"

"Of course. Even if Papa is sometimes grumpy and—"

"Ehem." Sasuke's deep voice sounded from the door where he was standing, showered and suited. Naruto smiled guiltily and fixed the note and lid of the bento.

"Mornin'."

"Morning Papa, Daddy made you lunch!" Natsuki bounced up and down in her seat on the counter and Sasuke came forward to steady her, hands skimming up her chubby arms. Eyes on the bento box, he smiled and lifted his gaze to Naruto. Natsuki was burbling incomprehensively (something Sasuke always insisted she'd picked up from her Dobe Daddy) in between them.

"Good morning, Princess," Sasuke murmured lowly with a curvy smile, eyes on Naruto.

"Princess! Princess Natsuki!" cried Natsuki as her blond father flushed.

"Don't look at me when you say that, Teme," scowled Naruto, pushing the lunch box at the raven.

"Don't teach my daughter bad language," teased Sasuke taking the lunch in his hands with a slow grace.

One moment with eyes locked over the head of the small girl and then Sasuke was turning to the front door.

"Ittekimasu."

"Itterashai!"

Both man and girl watched the door click shut.

"Right!" said Naruto after a moment, reaching to plop Natsuki back on the ground. "You go play before you're off to see Hinata sensei!"

"Yay!"

When Naruto came home later that day, arms laden with the week's groceries and grumbling about why he shouldn't have to do the groceries every second week when Sasuke only made fun of what he bought, he found the house quiet.

A quick glance at the ramen faced clock he'd had since highschool told him that Sasuke and Natsuki should be home but there was no high pitched squealing or low encouraging laughter. As he wandered into the lounge he stopped dead in his tracks at the scene before him.

At the small plastic table they had for Natsuki, lay Sasuke, draped long and far too big over page upon page of what Naruto could only call squashed meat buns even though it was apparent what the child had been trying to accomplish. Sasuke was asleep.

On the raven man's knee, curled up with a black marker clutched in her pudgy hand and head rested at an awkward angle was Natsuki.

And on Sasuke's smooth cheek, bold against his pale skin, was a heart. Wobbly and still slightly deformed; a gift from a daughter to her father, presented as he slept.

Naruto bit his lip against any noise he cared to make and then backed slowly and silently out of the room, hands already outstretched in search of the camera.


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapters will probably be released weekly from now on~ :)_

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**Lovely #2**

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AW, SHIT!" Naruto pulled his hand back quickly, sticking his finger in his mouth while the other hand turned down the heat of the stove top, bringing the broth down to a boil.

"Language, Naru," called the low tenor, right before Natsuki came flying through the door, model airplane in one hand and sputtering engine failures into the afternoon light. She was soon followed by her Papa, arms crossing as he leaned against the door jamb. Eyes scanning the little curly head as their baby did nose dives around the kitchen table.

"You know, if I can hear you, that means she can to." He nudged a head thoughtfully at the little ball of energy that had taken to running back out of the room the way she came in.

Naruto's eyes narrowed slightly as his finger retracted with a sound _pop_.

"I _know_. But that really hurt." He sniffed the air as he turned back around to tend to their hot pot. "You try catching yourself on fire once in a while..."

A soft sigh and then sinewy arms came to cage the blond from behind, pale hands gripping lightly to the counter as Sasuke's breath fanned out over the other's neck. Arrogantly, Naruto continued his ministrations until those wicked hands decided to travel up the lengths of his arms, reaching around to stroke back down his chest.

A kiss at his neck.

"The thing is..."

Soft mumbling accompanied by a slight nip and Naruto had to balance himself against the counter.

"...I'm careful enough not to burn myself..."

A sharp shiver ran the length of the blond's spine even as he growled lowly in warning, Sasuke's entire length pressing against him, those devilish arms now wrapped snuggly around his torso before Sasuke halted all actions, grinning lips pressed right up against Naruto's ear.

"...Moron."

Naruto's eyes snapped open and he was about to give the other a piece of his mind when a sharp "_Oi!_" came from the doorway, and both startled away from each other.

Naruto blinked with owlish eyes as he watched Natsuki, arms crossed and scowl apparent, march right up to Sasuke and beckon him down with a finger. Glancing quickly to Naruto in question, he followed his daughter's orders.

Once down on his knees, Natsuki gripped both his cheeks in her pudgy hands and, pausing only a moment, knocked her forehead light against Sasuke's. Nodding to herself triumphantly, she wagged her finger at her papa as he reached inquisitive fingers up to rub at his head.

"Bad words get smacks!" Next, she pointed at Naruto's finger. "Boo-boos get kisses."

It took only a moment for Sasuke to glance over at Naruto before he took the blond's hand in his own, adjusting himself on his knees, and pressed a light kiss against the tender finger.

A smug little grin exploded on Natsuki's face before she nodded and once again took flight from the room.

They stayed in silence for a moment, staring down at the spot where their daughter had been before smiling towards each other. It only took a moment for Naruto to break out in giggles.


	3. Chapter 3

**Lovely #3**

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The fist to the stomach might not have been the most pleasant way to wake up, but the way Sasuke's blond angel spread his body haphazardly across their queen sized bed called to mind the fading images of Sasuke's rather entertaining dream.

Biting his lip to stifle a groan, Sasuke rolled to lay half across Naruto's abdomen, one leg spreading the blond's at the knees as he leaned down to pepper soft kisses along the tanned column of Naruto's neck. He smirked against the hot skin when he felt Naruto automatically stretch his neck out to allow the raven more access. It seemed even in his sleep, Sasuke's boyfriend was still a lush.

But as he pulled back to admired the madly darkening hickey now singed onto Naruto's skin, Sasuke found he didn't mind at all.

The blond groaned out his dazed pleasure as Sasuke continued to mark and play, pulling up Naruto's shirt to nip and lave across dusky nipples standing at attention, just as hard as the bulge now pulsing against Sasuke's chest.

His tongue dipped down to swirl against the blond's happy trail and Naruto let out a soft keening noise into the morning air, hips jerking slightly as Sasuke smiled against the his hip.

If he could make Naruto cum before he woke up, Sasuke would have masturbation material til he died.

Shuddering a groan and pulling slowly at the edge of Naruto's underwear, Sasuke suddenly stopped at the squeak of a door opening to his right.

Tongue still glued to the blond's abdomen, Sasuke's eyes trailed over to see Natsuki standing all moony eyed and sleepy in the doorway as she took in the odd positions her dads were in.

Blinking once, twice, she tilted her cute head to the side. "Papa, what are you doing to Daddy?"

Quick as a snapping rubber band, Sasuke jolted upright on the bed, eyes wide and hands moving to cover up his rapidly deflating erection as he stared back at his innocent little girl.

For a moment, Sasuke was left stupefied, but he quickly gathered himself.

"I wanted to see if he tasted like ramen," he spoke quickly, nearly wincing at the lame excuse. "There's a saying. '_You are what you eat'._ Your daddy eats a lot of ramen and.. I ... uh. It might be true."

Another minute passed as Natsuki, slowly waking, tilted her head to the other side and stuck her bottom lip out in a little pout (which Sasuke had come to know as her "thinking" face) before she let out a small eureka of "Ah!"

"So, does daddy taste like ramen?" she questioned.

Sasuke started dumbfounded for a second. "Um. No. No, he doesn't taste like ramen."

She stood for a moment longer, looking over towards her daddy for a moment longer before she turned back to her papa. "Ok. I'm going to go watch tv now." And with that, she turned around and went the way she'd come in, the door swinging shut with a soft _click_.

Sasuke, thoroughly unaroused by Natsuki's sudden entrance, buckled down over Naruto and heaved a mighty groan, burying his blushing cheeks into his lover's toned stomach.

A soft chuckle caused him to still.

"I _don't_ taste like ramen..?" Came the sleepy intonation and Sasuke looked up to see Naruto's lidded eyes focused down on him.

Sasuke could feel his cheeks flushing again and dug his chin into the tanned flesh. "Oh, shut it. You try thinking of an excuse so early in the morning."

"Well, that would only work if it really were that early in the morning, but as it stands," Naruto looked pointedly at the clock on the bed table, "It's 11:00AM and you're late for work."

The sound of Sasuke's neck snapping to the clock made Naruto wince and it only took a second of looking into Sasuke's terror-stricken face for the raven to be up and racing from the bathroom to the closet and back out, pulling his shirt on haphazardly as he whipped a comb through his hair.

"Shit, shit, shit! Why didn't you TELL me?" He flared at Naruto, eyebrow twitching in that special way it did when he was stressed and Naruto only folded his arms behind his head, somehow still feeling turned on at the sight of Sasuke's flushed and angry face.

A lecherous grin stole over his own face. "Oh, but you looked like you were _so _enjoying yourself... How could I tell you to stop, ne?"

As quick as it'd left his mouth, a half dressed Sasuke was upon him with an _oomph!_, eyes narrowed in a feral manner as the raven growled before slamming his lips onto Naruto's in a hot and hard kiss. Tongues mashing together only long enough to let Naruto groan into the open air, Sasuke had pulled back. He looked like a quintessential big cat standing over its prey as he leaned down to bite into Naruto's plump lip in a promise.

"When I get back, your ass is mine."

With that and another quick kiss, Sasuke was gone, one sock dangling from his foot.

Hearing the front door slam and a call of, "Bye, Papa!" Naruto touched two fingers to his lips and smiled, muttering a, "I can't even wait," into the mid-morning air.


	4. Chapter 4

**Lovely #4**

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Admittedly, the fight had been his fault. It had been over something so stupid but Naruto just _had _to push it, didn't he?

But storming out of the bedroom and through the front door in a fit of silent rage had been Sasuke's choice. In front of his _daughter_ who'd called "Papa, what doing?", he'd left the house wearing that awful face. Instead of staying like he should have, he'd thrown open the door and let Natsuki see them fight. Let her see Naruto left standing in the door way, tear stricken face and flushed angry cheeks. Let her watch her Daddy avoid her confused gaze and slam the bedroom door closed again with a loud exclamation of "FUCK!"

Sasuke had chosen all that and Naruto was certain it had upset their daughter. But what pained him more than what had happened between him and Sasuke was what they had let Natsuki witness; was the fact that he was still too upset to go out and say he was okay. He just lay face down on the bed, still half dressed and with no intention of taking Natsuki to kindergarten any time soon. The sun coming through the open curtains was warm on his back but its heavy touch did nothing for the blond. Dry tears made his eyes itch but he continued to lie, eyes closed, one arm dangling off the side of the bed, fingers dipped into the folds of Sasuke's sweat pants that lay on the floor.

It was normal to fight, right? Even over small things? They'd been doing it since high school afterall, even before they got together. But arguments on the pitching mound during baseball practice or tiffs in the hallways never felt the same as screaming matches…

Naruto's limp fingers twitched at the soft tapping on his door.

"Daddy? Can Natsuki come in?" The blond tried to find the energy to smile at the way his daughter's muffled voice addressed herself in third person. Like if he said no it would be like he was denying someone else. For a moment he considered saying no, not wanting his little girl to see him like this but the image of Natsuki still in her pajamas and bare feet, soft curls a mess around her nervous baby features was too much to deny. He made a loud non-descript noise that Natsuki took as permission.

The door opened with a long anxious whine and Naruto turned his face into the pillows, not as brave as he thought he was after catching a glimpse of the girl exactly how he'd pictured her; blue-green blend eyes wide and jumpy. In one hand she held a small something Naruto didn't quite have time to identify and a toy gun in the other.

The only sound was the quiet footfalls of Natsuki approaching the bed quietly and leaning on the side so that it creaked, the way she often did in the middle of the night to wake the light sleeping Sasuke when she wanted to get in with them. Naruto didn't respond but felt the child venture forward, her small hands on his back and then the light weight of her body as she pulled herself up to sit on top of him. The plastic of the toy gun was cool on his skin as she set it down between Naruto's shoulder blades.

A gently humming weaved into the silence, a tune Naruto knew but couldn't place and there was the sound of fumbling with a lid of some kind before the blond felt the hard edges of something round push down firm on his skin. He made a noise of surprised inquiry but Natsuki didn't reply. It was only when she pressed the circle to his shoulder that the smell of ink reached his nose and he realized she was stamping his bare back with the happy face stamp she'd gotten for her birthday. Naruto smiled into his pillow and relaxed into the therapy, momentarily forgetting his troubles as the girl hummed and stained stamped him blue.

When Natsuki had worked her way half way down Naruto's calves, exposed by the shorts he'd intended to wear today, the front door opened and someone sounded their shoes as they removed them in the entry.

"Papa…" whispered Natsuki and Naruto tensed. The plastic gun slid along his skin as the girl quickly retrieved it.

The turn of the bedroom door handle and then:

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bad guys can't come in!" Naruto lifted his head to find Natsuki sitting on his thighs and pointing her gun at Sasuke who stood in the doorway. The other man was wearing his dress pants and the shirt he'd slept in under his blazer. His hair was all over the place and his skin looked a little grey.

"Hands up!" Natsuki demanded and Sasuke slowly lifted them, his eyes catching with Naruto's briefly then taking in his boyfriend's inky skin before focusing back on his daughter.

"Papa is a bad guy!"

Sasuke's features contorted slightly and for a second Naruto felt bad for him. Being called a bad guy by your little girl.

"Natsuki, Daddy and I-" Sasuke began to try and coax Natsuki out of the room but Natuski wasn't having it.

"Say you're sorry to Daddy!"

"Natsuki, we-"

"Say sorry!" From the helpless look on Sasuke's face Naruto could tell Natsuki's expression was stubborn and deathly serious.

"I'm sorry," said Sasuke finally but it still wasn't enough.

"Say it to Daddy properly!" Natsuki ordered, jerking the gun at Naruto who had to pull his head back to avoid being hit in the nose by the weapon. Again their eyes met. Naruto broke away first and heard Sasuke ask, "May I move, Ma'am?" and felt Natsuki nod.

Naruto lay his head back down on the pillows and watched Sasuke's long legs come into his vision. And then his torso and then his face. The raven knelt at the side of the bed and Natsuki jumped up, stumbling across the thick duvet to keep a close eye on Sasuke, gun at the ready. For a while the two men simply watched each other; Sasuke's expression pained and awkward, Naruto's hard and guarded.

"You shouldn't have walked out," murmured Naruto lowly. Sasuke opened his mouth to speak but before he had time to answer, Natsuki was prompting him for an apology again. A smile tugged at both men's lips and Sasuke lifted his hand to lay it on Naruto's cheek as he chuckled softly. Despite himself, the blond found himself closing his eyes and sighing as Sasuke stroked his skin.

"Sorry, Daddy," he said obediently and leaned to place a light kiss above Naruto's eyebrow.

"It's okay. I was wrong."

The raven hummed in reply. Naruto shuffled over and let Sasuke sit on the edge of the bed.

"All better!" yelled Natsuki and jumped off the bed making the couple jump, stamp in her pudgy hand. In a flurry of accomplished grins and bouncing curls, she'd taken each of her fathers' hands one by one and stamped a cheerful blue happy face.

"No more bad guys," she called before prancing out to play. Naruto and Sasuke watched her go.

"She's really something, huh?"

"Yup, she really is."


	5. Chapter 5

_short one this week :)_

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**Lovely #5**

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Sasuke was instantly on the alert as a soft sniffle drew his gaze further past the entryway. Instead of pulling off his shoes neatly as he normally would, he walked straight down the hallway towards their small kitchenette and almost ran straight into his blubbering daughter. Quickly gathering her up into his arms, the little girl cried and wailed into the crook of his neck as he cuddled her, pressing soothing kisses to her temple and speaking softly in her ear until her cries were only small whimpers. Hearing someone moving around in the kitchen, Sasuke was focused once again, cradling his treasure to his chest as he stalked quietly towards the kitchen door. Taking a slow breath, he shoved inward with his arm out in a fighting pose, daughter hitched onto one hip. He was completely ready to fend off attackers with only one arm. Completely.

Instead, his kitchen looked completely normal, dishes put out and pot of hot soup steaming on the stovetop. His eyes instantly went to the other man in the room. Naruto had his back turned to them, but Sasuke could see his shoulders were shaking slightly. Discerning that something must have happened between the two loves of his life, he called out softly, "Naruto?" The blond paused for only a moment before turning around to face his boyfriend, and Sasuke's face instantly fell flat at the sight.

"I-it STINGS." Naruto cried, snot and tears trailing down his face as he held a knife in one hand and a large onion in the other. He looked absolutely pathetic in his little canary apron.

"Sasukeeeeeeee... It stttiiinngggssss!" And with that, Sasuke suddenly had two armfuls of very snotty, very blubbery people and he sighed quietly out into the open air as a small smile cracked on his face.


	6. Chapter 6

**Lovely #6**

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"I want to doggie pile."

Sasuke tilted the corner of his paper down, eyeing the little sandy pip squeak who stood looking at him with wide moony eyes over the arm of the couch.

"I want to doggie pile," she repeated, and Sasuke's narrowed his eyes as this time she cocked the corner of her mouth up into a wicked grin.

"Natsu- GUH!"

He couldn't even get out her name as he was brutally tackled from over the back of the couch, landing face first on the plush carpet and feeling his arm crunch at an awkward angle against the corner of the kotatsu as a familiar body pressed down on top of him, aligning them perfectly and he could practically FEEL the shit eating grin the other wore.

"You deaf, Papa? She said she wants to doggie pile." Naruto's voice was close to his ear and Sasuke felt his traitorous body shudder as the blond snuggled his head into the crook of his neck.

He tilted his head, preparing for a verbal assault as the other wiggled on top of him, letting out a growl before with a whoop and a "YOSH!", another weight was suddenly plopped on top of both of them.

Naruto even stilled a moment before he adjusted slightly, both listening to the tittering giggles from the little girl now sitting prettily atop them.

They both stayed still, listening to every whine and coo as Natsuki made herself comfortable, and soon enough she let out a small yawn.

Suddenly, terror dawned upon both fathers as they realized their baby girl had fooled them both into making a papa-bed for herself, with her pretty smile and coy eyes.

"Dobe," Sasuke whispered. "Move."

"I-" he started, shifting a little and feeling small hands clutch harder into the back of his shirt and an angry gurgle sounded out. "I.. cant."

"Oh."

"Oh," Naruto parroted.

"Oh _yes~_" Natsuki murmured, the smile in her voice taking over any thought of future kinks and sores in their bodies later on from the rigid positions they laid in, deciding that, for a while, all was okay.


	7. Chapter 7

_double post today since chapters have been a bit short :)_

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**Lovely #7 [The Early Years]**

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Mikoto had known that Uzumaki Naruto would be the one for her son since the day Sasuke had brought him home and told her, "we're dating…". She'd smiled and congratulated them while both boys looked uncomfortable and pleased at the same time.

Naruto was just so _perfect_ for Sasuke.

She'd never seen Sasuke as flustered as he was around Naruto. Not a blushing, stuttering kind of flustered. But the kind of flustered that he was when his mother teased him and he grumbled and rubbed the back of his head, delicate eyebrows pulled together in that charming, more embarrassed than angry frown of his. She'd never seen anyone except herself and Itachi get that from Sasuke.

Naruto really _got _to Sasuke and that was how she knew.

She remembered the first time Sasuke had come home after meeting Naruto. They had moved back to Konoha about a week before highschool had started and Sasuke had attended the first day. Apparently Naruto hadn't though which she had been surprised about. When she'd heard about Kushina and Minato's accident she'd also heard that their son would be staying in Konoha. She wondered if maybe he had moved away after. She'd been disappointed and continuously disappointed for the next few weeks when Sasuke failed to come home and tell her about the new friend he had made. (She'd naturally assumed they'd be friends.) Until that day.

The youngest Uchiha had stormed through the front door sporting a purpling bruise at his cheek and an angry red flush. Mikoto had quickly met him in the kitchen doorway after hearing the sound of him throwing down his bag, and drawn a long breath as her baby boy towered over her, shoulders heaving, mouth hanging open as he drew ragged breaths. He was still wearing his P.E. uniform and smelt like he hadn't bothered to shower which she found unusual.

"Sasuke, what's wrong?" Concerned eyes fixed on Sasuke's expression. The boy shut his mouth and then opened it again, his features making the face he used to show her as a child when he came home from kindy, frustrated by someone mixing paints or upset over grass stained knees and elbows.

"Sasuke?" When she called his name again he relaxed and shook his head.

"It's nothing. Just some new kid in my class. He annoyed me all day and then I turn up to try out for the baseball team and there he is. What makes it worse is that he's a pitcher and I'm catcher. We had a fight and then the coach told us to get over it …" The boy's shoulders slumped and he pinched his nose, something his father did too when he was stressed. Mikoto smiled and guided Sasuke to a chair at the table before moving back into the kitchen, speaking to her son over the counter.

"I'm sure you'll get along better once you get to know him. As I recall Sasuke, a few weeks ago you thought that Nara boy was annoying too but now you like him just fine, right?"

"Hn."

"So what's this boy's name?"

"Uzumaki Naruto."

Looking back now, it was something to be laughed at, the way Sasuke, and surely Naruto, had reacted to one another. From Sasuke's afterschool tales Mikoto heard much of just how annoying Kushina's son was. But then, gradually—"He's actually a really good player. And he always stays with me if I want to practice more, which I do because he throws so damn hard. We sit together at lunch now. I'm glad Shikamaru is there too though. I don't think I could handle the Dobe on my own…"

Pet names and angry affection.

At that point, Mikoto had been hopeful and in her mind she imagined speaking to Kushina about their sons' budding relationship. She didn't dare speak to Fugaku about Sasuke's preferences. Although she'd known for a long time.

Sasuke would tell his father when he was ready.

In the early days of the boys' friendship, Naruto came to visit often. The first time Mikoto couldn't resist pouncing on him. She'd never actually seen Kushina's boy afterall. She'd made Naruto cry by mentioning his mother but even after that he'd still come back to play with Sasuke. The two practiced baseball in the Uchiha's big backyard and did homework together. Sometimes Naruto stayed for dinner when Fugaku and Itachi weren't coming home.

_"__We need to fill the table, why don't you stay, Naruto?" _

Sasuke always ate the tomatoes out of Naruto's salads; because the other boy didn't like them or because Sasuke did, Mikoto wasn't sure.

A few months after confessing their relationship before Sasuke's mother, Sasuke and Naruto approached Fugaku.

They stood and held hands and Sasuke did all the very small amount of talking. Fugaku had sat silently and Mikoto stood behind the armchair her husband was sitting in with a firm hand on his shoulder. She was sure that if she wasn't there, the head of the Uchiha house would have done a lot more than silently storm out of the room once they were done. But even that had left upset tears shivering across the bottom of Sasuke's vision. Neither Naruto nor Mikoto said anything as Sasuke stood completely still, shoulders tense and tears slipping down humiliated red cheeks. Naruto had left immediately without touching Sasuke.

In the morning at breakfast, Sasuke was a little quiet but seemed okay. He'd perked up when Naruto had come to pick him up for school. Mikoto had watched the two from the living room as they stopped at the gate.

Sasuke had his fingers at Naruto's sleeve, holding him back. And then he had looked up and down the street before tugging Naruto back to him and pressing his mouth quickly to the other's. Afterwards Sasuke asked Naruto something with a worried face and Naruto touched his cheek reassuringly.

Sasuke wouldn't let his father's disapproval keep him from what he wanted but Mikoto knew it Fugaku's reaction had still hurt.

Eventually, Uchiha Fugaku became more okay with the idea of his son's lover.

Until Sasuke had come home one evening and told them he and Naruto were adopting a child.

They had moved on from highschool and had been living together for a while, but-

"WHAT ARE YOU THINKING, SASUKE? HAVING _HIM_ AS A—AS A _LOVER_ IS BAD ENOUGH, AND NOW YOU WANT A CHILD?!"

"Sasuke, you're very young, Honey. Why on earth…"

"She's living at the hospital. She doesn't have a family. We don't have to take her home or anything yet, Iruka sensei said she can live in the infant's ward as long as we need but… We want her. Her name is Natsuki and she's ours."

Naruto hadn't said much which was common when the Uchiha head was present. He'd gone home after a little more conversation and another walk-out on Fugaku's part.

Later Mikoto had sat down with Sasuke on his bed.

"Sasuke, why would you do this… You and Naruto are… Your job is… You can't even be legally… bound…" For lack of a better word.

"Doesn't matter."

"You're still so young, you don't know that you'll stay-"

"Yes I do. And you do too. You're just agreeing with Father. You _know _that I… You know I love him, don't you?" Sasuke turned honest eyes to her and she could do nothing but sigh and run her fingers through her long, thick hair.

There was no doubt that Sasuke would be a good father; he was mature, responsible, organized and could hold his temper when he really needed to—God knew he'd had enough practice when conversing with his father. And Naruto was affectionate and warm and so full of love. But still…

Another sigh.

"Yes, I know you love him, Bub. But a _baby_?"

"Girls have babies younger than this. And Naruto and I would have kids at some point anyway…"

"Yes, but—"

They sat in silence for a while and Mikoto let her mind fill with Sasuke, a more mature Sasuke, standing with a more mature Naruto and their family. She agreed with Sasuke that he would build a life with Naruto; she'd always said Naruto was 'the one'. But right now Sasuke was still so young to her. His jaw was still a little round and his hands still a little smaller than Itachi and Fugaku's. She was so used to seeing him in a school uniform that he just didn't seem like an adult.

"It's very hard work, Sasuke," she told him.

"I know. But Iruka will be there and you know Sakura is already at the hospital too. There will be help. Also…" Again Sasuke looked to her. Mikoto could see how her son was clenching and unclenching his jaw. He looked like he was going to cry.

"… You'll be there, won't you?" he asked quietly. "To help…"

Mikoto drew a long breath and jumped slightly as Sasuke dropped his head onto her shoulder. She couldn't see his face even as she looked down but she suspected he was doing that on purpose.

"Sasuke…"

"She's really beautiful. And Naruto just looked so…"

Blurry images of Fugaku's tender, happy face as he held a pink, crying baby Itachi and then a similar baby Sasuke flashed before the woman's eyes.

"I know, Bub."

They stayed like that until Sasuke murmured he wanted to sleep.

Mikoto headed out to the kitchen. Fugaku was nowhere to be seen. When she wandered down the hall he wasn't in their room so she guessed he was in his office, not wanting to be disturbed.

The situation was a tricky one. Sasuke had shown that he wouldn't back down but Mikoto was fairly certain Fugaku was pretty set on not tolerating his youngest son and his boyfriend adopting a baby either.

As she sat at the dining room table, absently rolling a napkin into a tube, an awkward weight settled in Uchiha Mikoto's chest. She didn't exactly agree with Sasuke but she didn't really disagree with him either. She'd been asked to support her son by a Sasuke with such honest eyes that she couldn't refuse. But she knew that Fugaku would expect her to support him too.

She'd sighed heavily into the quiet evening.

_'__What a predicament. What should I do?'_

But deep down, she knew that she wouldn't be able to deny Sasuke or a baby granddaughter. And deep down, she knew that Fugaku wouldn't be able to either. They didn't even have to wait through a pregnancy to come to love this 'Natsuki'. She was sure that her husband, just as many initially opposed men before him had done, would turn to mush at the sight of maybe not his flesh and blood, but family for sure.

_'__He'll come round soon enough... He can't really do anything to stop them anyway…"_

Mikoto stood that night and closed the curtains with a hopeful smile and a strange sense that, despite the tension between father and son, despite the anxious weight in her chest, despite Fugaku fuming in his office, everything would be fine.

It'd just take a little bit of time.


	8. Chapter 8

**Lovely #8**

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He was woken by the trembling slam of their kitchen door. The raven bolted upward in bed and hand reached quickly towards their end table where he kept the baseball bat. Ready to fend off the intruders, Sasuke was unable to stop the blond ball of energy as Naruto plowed through their door before slamming himself straight into Sasuke. He was thrown back into his laying position and stared, dazed, up at Naruto who had made quick work of his own shirt and pants, growling ferally as he pulled Sasuke into quick successive kisses.

"Naru..? What the-"

"God, you look so god-damned- HOT with that sleepy look on your face."

Sasuke would have responded snappily if it weren't for the way Naruto quickly lost his boxers and began grinding down onto the other's still clothed crotch, dragging successive gasps from plush pink lips.

Feeling his body spring to life, Sasuke elbowed Naruto straight in the ribcage and immediately rolled them over so he lay spread across the flustered blond, Naruto's legs automatically coming to cradle his hips as his hands moved Sasuke's sleeping pants down his hips.

"What- ah! What about Natsuki? I mean it's al-" He was immediately shut up by a hungry mouth suckling at his bottom lip, nibbling against the tender flesh as they began a strong rocking, Naruto meeting his boyfriend thrust for thrust and feeling his already tight coil wind up. Taking a firm grip on Sasuke's cheeks, the blond pulled him back to survey his work for a moment before a sneaky grin worked across his face.

"You're taking the day off; I already called it in." Sasuke glanced towards their clock and saw that it was, in fact, mid morning.

"I already dropped Natsu off so we have all-" A nip at his chin. "-day-" Sasuke groaned into the open air between their lips. "-long." Lips plastered together they rolled and romped among the dark navy blankets, not even parting in their lust as they rolled over the side of the bed.


	9. Chapter 9

**Lovely #9**

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"Daaaaddyy."

"Yeeees?" From the lounge Naruto called back to his daughter in the kitchen. He could hear her rattling around in the fridge but had been keeping a keen ear on the noises, carefully identifying everything she was touching. They didn't really have anything dangerous in the fridge but a father could never be too careful. Sasuke had left for work about an hour ago and Natsuki had been pottering her way through all the bottom cupboards ever since bidding her Papa 'Itterashai' at the door. Fortunately all the utensils and glass vessels were higher up and out of her reach too.

There was the slosh of milk against the thick plastic of the bottle and Naruto quirked an eyebrow, wondering what Natsuki was doing playing with it. She only had milk with cereal in the mornings these days.

"Daddy," she called again, this time her voice jumpity with the bounding of her steps as she came pounding into the room, footfalls heavy and child-clumsy. She was holding a milk bottle in both small hands and trying not to trip over the extra limbs of the octopus onesie, or 'octo-suit' she was wearing.

"Daddy, what's this? It's green!" she exclaimed and Naruto bit his lip at the phrasing. The milk she was bringing to him certainly wasn't green but the bottle top, instead of the usual blue, was a bright green to match the green label. She plonked it into Naruto's lap and then clambered onto the couch to sit next to him, wide blue-green eyes looking up to him and flitting across Naruto's bright blues, waiting for an explanation. Naruto grinned at her enthusiasm.

"Daddy," Natsuki prompted and Naruto laughed lightly and swished the milk too.

"This is milk, Natsuki."

"I know Daddy! But why is it green?!" The girl pointed at the label and frowned a little, pouting at her father's insufficient and blatantly obvious answer. Naruto chuckled and turned eyes to trace the words of the milk label.

"This is special milk, Bub. You remember Iruka came to visit the other day?" Natsuki nodded generously, making serious humming noises of understanding, urging her father on. "Maa, Iruka is lactose-intolerant so he has to have this special milk."

"Eh?"

Soft baby curls caressed the girl's cheek as she tilted her head sideways and furrowed her eyebrows, making a softer, much cuter version of Sasuke's confused face.

"Wassat mean?" Taking the bottle from her daddy's hands, Natsuki frowned down at the characters she didn't understand, as if seeing the meaningless shapes would help her to comprehend. Naruto smiled and then 'hmmm'ed to himself as he tried to think of an easy way to explain 'lactose intolerant'.

"Ah- What it means is that if Iruka drinks normal milk, it makes his tummy go a bit funny. He's_ intolerant_ to the milk you like."

"Oooh…" Natsuki cooed.

Naruto sat back and stretched a long arm along the back of the couch behind his daughter's head, pleased with himself. Natsuki examined the bottle a moment longer before lifting her face to Naruto again.

"Ne, Daddy, I think I might be intolerant to Ryo in my class." Naruto spluttered a laugh and Natsuki's head snapped to glare up at him, certainly something else she'd picked up from the countless times Sasuke had done the same to Naruto when he laughed inappropriately. But Natsuki's cheeks were a lovely pink and Naruto instantly quieted his giggles and then leaned over to smother the little girl in a warm embrace, the milk bottle sliding from her hands and tumbling to the floor.

"Oooh Natsuki~ Does he make your tummy funny, Baby? Do you looove him?" The child snuggled embarrassedly into his arms, clutching at his t shirt with tiny fists but said nothing for a while. Naruto tightened his arms around her and she '_eep_'ed before :

"Ne, Daddy you love Papa right? Does Papa make your tummy funny? Are you Papa-intolerant?"

Naruto pulled up, watching the girl before him for a moment as she looked up at him, blush fading and eyes big and curious. He then rubbed his nose against Natsuki's, finishing by pressing a kiss to her forehead. He huffed a quiet laugh.

"Yes, Bub, Papa does make my tummy funny."

"All the time? Because Ryo makes my tummy funny all the time."

"Yes, all the time."

Father and daughter exchanged wide smiles and then bubbly bursts of laughter.

"Well then, shall we get you off to school to see this Ryo kun then?"

Natsuki shuffled her feet and then smiled a much shyer smile.

"'Kay."


	10. Chapter 10

**Lovely #10**

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**.**

"Papa."

"Hmm?"

"I'm getting married."

Sasuke's eyes widened and began to tear as he choked on the dark liquid in his bright orange mug, setting the ceramic ware down carefully before leaning against the table on propped elbow. He coughed harshly and swallowed before staring incredulously over at his daughter who had ignored his strife and continued to swirl her Lucky Charms around with her spoon.

"You most certainly are _not_."

"Yes, Papa, I am." She met his eyes and said it with such conviction that Sasuke was momentarily stunned by her bravado. Natsuki sat forward, putting down the spoon before interlacing her tiny, chubby fingers in front of her. "His name is Ryo and we have been in love for a long time."

Sasuke merely raised an eyebrow. "And how long is a long time?"

A twitch of a smirk alighted her face. "Two weeks!" she chirped proudly, and displayed two fingers in the air. A serious press of her lips lit up her face as she continued, "I am going to need a wedding dress and a crown."

"-You mean, a veil-"

"-No, Papa. A crown. _Geez_." She rolled her big eyes as Sasuke's own flitted back and forth trying to reason with her.

Brushing fingers through his hair, he said, "Well, it's not like I doubt... _your_ sincerity, darling, but how do you know he really, ah... loves you too? I mean, marriage is a big step."

She sighed before leaning her chubby cheek against a palm, propped against the table, Lucky Charms forgotten as if she realized it would be difficult to get the older man to accept her groom of choice.

'_Obviously_, it's because he looks at me the same way you look at Daddy." Sasuke merely blinked at her as she picked up the bowl, promptly gulped down the rest of the cereal and milk and hopped off the chair. "Now, I'm going to get ready for school."

She toddled out of the room, sideswiping the door jamb as Sasuke's blond-haired boyfriend came through the door, ruffling Natsuki's brown curls lightly and chuckling as he made his way over to envelope Sasuke in his normal morning glomps.

"Good morning, my dear~" he chirped and pressed a kiss to Sasuke's temple before pulling back, noticing the shock on the others' face. "What's up?"

Sasuke shook his head incredulously and squeezed the bridge of his nose. Leaning back in the chair, he muttered, "Our six-year-old is getting married to some kid who makes googly eyes at her on the playground."

Naruto wiggled his way in between Sasuke's bent knees and the table, leaning back casually against it and causing the wrinkles in his "JUST DO IT!" t-shirt to stand out. Letting out a small chuckle, he said, "Oh, Ryo? What's wrong with that? He's a nice kid- always waits with Natsu when we come late." When Sasuke let out a miffed sound, Naruto faked a shocked expression, pressing a hand up against his chest. "You mean you wouldn't allow such a gentleman our beloved's hand in marriage?!"

At that, Sasuke leveled Naruto with a flat glare, tugging lightly at the edge of his shirt. "Of course not. She's _six_."

Naruto rolled his eyes but pressed forward.

"Daughter complex."

"Please... It's not that complicated."

"All right, stingy then."

A low growl was emitted between Sasuke's thin lips as Naruto shuffled forward more to straddle his lap, wrapping tanned arms around the other's neck and bringing his lips to Sasuke's ear. Whispering conspiratorially, he said, "Natsuki's gonna be busy for at least another 15 minutes doing her hair. How about I give you something to _really_ make googly eyes about?"

Needless to say, the prospect of walking his daughter down the aisle quickly vacated the pale man's mind.


	11. Chapter 11

**Lovely #11 [The Early Years]**

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In middle school, Sasuke played baseball. And he loved it. In particular he loved catching. Swinging the bat was all well and good but it seemed like any decent sized young man could swing and hit. He was aware that some people, the clean up batters with the important jobs, put a lot of effort and skill into their swing, but Sasuke didn't have that sort of job so he just did what was required of him. Swing, make contact, wait on the ball, lay down a bunt, squeeze, hold, strike out, advance the runner.

Whatever.

But catching was so… different. Honestly, it was the power he held that got him. As catcher he got to call the way the pitcher pitched. It was tactical, exercised his brain. And he was good at it. He hardly ever took signs from the coach in the dugouts. He loved the even rhythm of the ball colliding heavily with his mitt as he struck player after player out.

It may have sounded weird for someone like Uchiha Sasuke, but it gave him shivers when he was catcher.

In middle school, that was why he loved baseball.

When he came to highschool, Sasuke obviously signed up for the baseball team. He raised his hand with a polite "yes, I am" when the coach called for a catcher and was pleased when no one else raised their hand. The job was easily his. And then the pitchers had raised their hands. A few with wobbly "kind of"s and "I've never pitched a game"s. And then:

"Yeah me! I'm a real good pitcher! I'll do it! I was the ace at my middle school!"

The others had lowered their hands and, having obviously witnessed the boy's pitching either on their own middle school team or at games, agreed this boy, 'Uzumaki Naruto', should pitch.

When they began testing out everyone's positions, Sasuke decided he hated this boy. His pitches were too fast, too hard and they snapped right past Sasuke's mitt and hit him square in the chest making him double over, eyes watering, muscles spasming.

_"__Too fast for ya?! Sorry about that, Princess!"_

He hated him. He hated that reckless pitcher. Uzumaki Naruto.

And then one day, he didn't.

The Uchiha didn't know when it happened. Was it when Shikamaru had grumbled out to him "this noisy guy is gonna sit with us at lunch" and the pitcher had joined them on the roof, suddenly loud and joking? Was it when Sasuke had thrown him against the locker room wall, demanding the boy stop throwing such wild pitches and Naruto had held his hands up and agreed with a shaky nod and apology? Or when he'd first shown Sasuke an honest smile when the raven turned to him in the showers as Naruto swiped at a runaway soap sud between the other's shoulder blades?

He didn't know. But _at some point_ Sasuke had realized that whenever Naruto came to pick him up to walk to school together with him, whenever a pitch went just the way they wanted and they exchanged satisfied grins, whenever Naruto looked his way and smiled that smile, laughed, snorted, spat milk, ate as he spoke, Sasuke's heart began to beat fast. Any little thing.

When Naruto; straight as an arrow, skirt-flipping, chest- leering, "girls are so sweet" Naruto, snuggled up to his 'best friend' Sasuke in the cold weather, hands sneakily trying to slip into the warmth of Sasuke's coat pockets, Sasuke's cheeks flushed. He tripped over garbled insults and Naruto just laughed and called him a 'strange guy'.

He hated it.

Because Naruto was straight and Sasuke had known for a while now that he was anything but.

Because when they hung out they watched baseball games together and played catch. They went shopping and ate meals together but somewhere there was always a baseball comment, the underlying knowledge that all their relationship really was was pitcher and catcher. And Sasuke couldn't ignore it. Because as much as he thought it was _so stupid_ to fall for someone so infuriatingly dumb, so idiotic…

He couldn't help it.


	12. Chapter 12

**Lovely #12 [The Early Years]**

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Naruto couldn't quite believe what he was seeing. He hadn't seen this kind of scene before in… Well, since…

The coach was on his knees next to the team's catcher and the third baseman junior Kiba was shaking Naruto's shoulder as he stood, dead still. Shock.

"Oi! Naruto sempai! Sasuke sempai is-"

"I-I know."

Even if it had been a while he still knew this scene; Sasuke curled in over himself on his knees, the curve of his back heaving in short shallow breaths, tiny noises through grit teeth coming unusually loud through the hot, dusty air.

The times before, Naruto had never stood like this, all still and wide eyes. The other times he'd arrogantly picked at the loose leather of his practice mitt while the rest of the team gathered around Sasuke, placing careful hands on his trembling back, hauling him backwards and laying him out, gently removing his gear and checking for broken bones, icing surfacing bruises. Because a fastball like Naruto's to the body could be damaging even with the equipment on.

"_I told you they'd be coming in hard and fast, didn't I, Uchiha? If you can't even handle that…"_

At that time he hadn't really cared about the hard _thwack _of baseball on heavy protection gear or the loud, pained noise the catcher had made when it connected with him. It was the other boy's _job_ to catch what Naruto threw after all.

But this time.

Sasuke was getting to his feet unsteadily and waving off the others but when he lifted his teary eyes to meet Naruto standing dumbstruck on the mound, the blonde could feel it, almost _hear _it. Sasuke's anger. This shouldn't have happened after so long together. And this time it wasn't that Sasuke couldn't take Naruto's pitches. It was undeniably the fault of the pitcher. They both knew it.

…

"Sasuke lift your arm, Bub, your shirt is catching on your elbow."

One day later, Sasuke lifted his arm obediently and Naruto, sitting slightly out from where Mikoto was tending to her son in his bed, flinched as Sasuke hissed lowly at the movement. The blue button up shirt Sasuke had been wearing slid easily off his arm and the Uchiha mother gathered it up before pulling out a tube that any baseball player recognized as arnica, from her apron pocket. She set it on top of Sasuke's covered legs.

"Put more of that on, it'll help," she said to Sasuke before smiling once at Naruto and making her way out of her son's room. She didn't seem too concerned about Sasuke. Naruto guessed she had a lot of experience with this kind of injury from early last season…

She left the two boys in tight silence, the blonde in his school uniform, bag at his feet and Sasuke covered to the waist with his light sheet, and shirtless.

The left side of his pale exposed chest and the top of his ribcage was bruised a nasty blue-purple colour. Naruto drew a long breath through his nose. Sasuke didn't look to him and Naruto recalled vaguely that the last time he'd hit Sasuke during practice the other had thrown Naruto against the wall of the locker room.

Of course this time it really had been an accident he regretted. Naruto had even waited with Sasuke for Mikoto to come pick up her son, but he could understand why Sasuke was angry.

"Maa," began Naruto nervously, picking up his right hand from his lap and running his left hand fingers over the calluses there. "I'm real sorry Sasuke, I was throwing a fastball and ya know it was really hot and my hand just sort of…" He moved his hand into the fastball grip and stared down at it. His wrist protested a bit at the action; he'd strained it when the pitch had gone rogue and hit Sasuke…

"The ball slipped out, my fingers came off it weird with the sweat…"

"It wasn't sweat, Naruto," said Sasuke suddenly making Naruto's head shoot up to watch the raven as he finally spoke.

"What… do you mean?"

A sigh.

"What I mean is that you came late to practice and jumped right in with us without warming up. Your damn fingers weren't ready! That ball shouldn't have hit me, I'm your catcher remember, I know how you pitch and you should know too; how poorly you threw because you were too hasty to join us!" Sasuke's dark eyes moved to meet startled blues and Naruto noted the tiny bumps of anger flanking the pale boy's nose.

"Idiot," he snapped without breaking eye contact. Naruto swallowed thickly and after a moment of glaring, Sasuke eased off and sighed again. More silence before:

"But you always warm me up and do stretches with me, and you were already out there…" muttered Naruto, his fingers massaging into the heel of his palm and straightening out his fingers, rolling his wrist a little; the way Sasuke normally did and had done for him before all practices and games.

"It's stuff you should learn to do yourself, Naruto. If you ask Coach he'll show you how to do it and then I won't have to. I do it because it's my job to look after my pitcher, not because I like to."

Sasuke was gingerly rubbing arnica into his side, right arm reached over his chest to do it, unable to maneuver the left one in a way that didn't pull at his sore flesh. He yelped quietly as his finger slipped uncoordinatedly and pressed too hard into the deep purple, round print left behind by the ball. Naruto started and shifted in his chair.

"I can—"

"This is something I can do myself," interrupted Sasuke and looking into the raven's serious, almost-concealed-pain riddled face Naruto felt anger flare in his chest.

'_Something he can do himself huh?' _

He said that but Naruto remembered how Sasuke would bring him the giant tube they kept at the grounds and ask him to put it on the day's bruises for him. The way they all did it for each other; the whole team. The smiles and laughter as they sat in a long line along the benches after practice with Naruto, who had a hard body that didn't bruise easily, sitting in the back. And now Sasuke was here saying he didn't need help for something as serious as this when he always wanted help for the smaller injuries.

"So what, you're only nice to us—to _me_ because it works for the team?! You don't need us when it comes to things that really you can 'do yourself'? Only participate when it suits?!" growled Naruto, standing and towering over Sasuke who didn't look up, concentrated stare focused on his fingers slowing twisting the cap of the cream back on.

"You only look after me because I'm the pitcher?! Because it's convenient?!" Naruto tried to keep his voice down, not wanting to worry Sasuke's mother but it was becoming harder to control himself as Sasuke continued to avoid his gaze.

"Sitting together at lunch with me and the others, do you just do that because we're in baseball club together?! When I come to school on cold days, the reason you have extra gloves for me really is because you're only worried about what it means for games if I hurt my numb fingers?! You invite me here to hang out because having a friendly relationship with me makes it easier for you as a catcher?! You don't like me at all?! You—!"

"SHUT UP!"

Naruto stopped in his tracks and quickly reverted back to concern as Sasuke bit his lip against the pain that filling his lungs to shut the blonde up had provoked. His bruised side heaved up and down for a while, air passing tightly through Sasuke's clenched teeth and again Naruto found himself staring, unable to speak, at Sasuke. Getting so worked up, the blonde was trembling with anger and tears itching at the corner of his vision as uncertainty and guilt swirled at the base of his throat. His knees felt oddly weak, his vision unusually sharp. Though forever the palest person Naruto had ever met, Sasuke's t shirt tan was defined and annoyingly distracting. Naruto blinked twice and licked sweat off his upper lip. It was hot but he didn't know if that was due to the weather or the fact that he was panicking a little.

All this time he'd honestly considered Sasuke a friend, even though they fought on the mound, even though Sasuke smacked him when he was being stupid, they sat together at lunch, they walked to school together, went shopping together, went to get their baseball uniforms fitted together. And now was Sasuke saying that had all been nothing?

"Shut up," breathed Sasuke softly even though Naruto hadn't spoken since.

"Sasuke, I…"

"It's not that I don't like you."

"Eh-? Wha…?" Sasuke was gripping the bed sheet in fisted hands and now Naruto was confused. The other boy no longer looked angry. With his head bowed and eyes hidden away in thick bangs he looked… upset. Naruto sat back down slowly. When Sasuke spoke the blonde could have sworn he heard that deep voice that was always so confident and level, shake.

"It's just when you pitched that fastball, when it hit me… I remembered what you were like when we first met. When I got hit all those times … Your fastball was the first one that hit me… And I realized that you're still a pitcher and even though we hang out and we're _friends,_ we should really have-"

"Sasuke, you're not making much sense, if you don't hate me then why are you so-"

"My 'like' is different to yours!" exploded Sasuke, making Naruto sit straight up in his chair. "Our relationship _should _just be club related but I, with you… The others I like too but you… You get so _close _to me and…" The raven trailed off with Naruto's stunned, wide stare boring holes in the side of Sasuke's head.

"When you hit me I realized that ultimately, you are just a pitcher and I'm just a catcher. We hang out and I start feeling like we're more than that, but we're not," finished Sasuke more clearly. Naruto licked his lips again. Silence enveloped them while Naruto tried to get his head around what Sasuke was trying to say and the other turned away tensely to look out the window. The sound of cicadas outside in the heat faded in to keep the gap between words company.

"So… are we friends then?" Naruto saw Sasuke jump when he spoke up again. "Because it seems like you like being friendly with me but you think I don't feel the same way or something, even when I just yelled at you about not caring about me... I mean,_ I_ think we're friends." Unable to gather more than that and thoroughly confused by Sasuke's behavior, Naruto stopped there, leaving open room for Sasuke to reply which he didn't for a long while, still grappling at his sheets.

"Didn't you hear me? I said my 'like' is different." His voice was breathy.

"…A 'like' like you want to be friends but don't know if it's okay to when the base of our relationship is catching and pitching?"

Sasuke laughed in a way that sounded very sad to the blonde sitting at his bedside.

"You really are an idiot."

"Hey!"

"I mean I like you."

"I like you too."

"No! I like _like _you!"

This time Naruto didn't retaliate. Sasuke was looking out the window again.

"Sasuke… Are you gay?"

"Naruto…"

"Are you?" One of Sasuke's habitual sighs slipped his lips despite the situation. Naruto shifted nervously, the thought that Sasuke might actually be really sensitive about this striking him.

"I mean, it's okay if you are, Sasuke. It just that you like boys, no big deal. Kiba told me the other day that he has this thing for teachers! It's the same, I don't judge! Honest!"

Sasuke's shoulders quirked in a way that Naruto recognized as irritation.

"I like you," he called in a voice that didn't match his annoyed body language, without looking around.

"Yeah… I heard."

"I'm sorry. For liking you." The words came cold and flat but Sasuke was finally lifting his face and turning to Naruto. He was trying to smirk like he always did but his eyes were glossy and his pale cheeks dappled red. The line of his bare shoulders shivered against the vivid blue backdrop of the sky through the window.

It was kind of terrible.

"It's stupid right? When you're just my pitcher. When I'm a guy." Sasuke turned his body toward Naruto, facing him more and opening his body language to the blonde, shoulders sagging. He looked so defeated.

"It's… not stupid," replied Naruto and Sasuke instantly scowled and hunched his shoulders, closing himself just as quickly as he'd opened.

"Of course it's stupid, you idiot! Even if you _'don't judge'_, it's different when it concerns you, right?! This is what I'm talking about! When we should just be pitcher and catcher-! I got too close to you and now _this _happened! I thought it was okay, I thought I could write it off as friendship but then you hit me like you did when we were first years and made me remember nothing had changed and there was no way that you could-! That I actually-!"

Hot tears spilled from Sasuke's eyes but he dashed them away angrily, hiding his face in his arm as he did. Naruto's palms were uncomfortably warm and he didn't know what to do. Sasuke was someone who, as much as he liked to tease and poke at, Naruto respected and seeing him cry was something very hard to handle. When they lost games he never cried. He'd only ever been wet around the eyes when Naruto hit him with baseballs. Though Sasuke was bigger than Naruto, he looked small as he tried to get a grip.

It was unsettling.

"Naa, Sasuke, don't be so upset, you didn't even ask if I'm gay yet," muttered Naruto, listening to his voice crack, watching in strange wonder as his arm moved in his own and his fingers gripped Sasuke's wrist, pulling it away from his face. He didn't really know what he was doing but Sasuke crying was so…

"What are you talking about; I've seen you leering at girls, Naruto. You're not gay," snapped Sasuke, trying to wrench his hand away but Naruto held on before looking left and right anxiously and tightening his grip. He felt blood rushing to his face as he opened his mouth.

"Yeah, I know, girls are cute but I… I-I might be… gay. I might be, if it's Sasuke. I could be Sasuke-sexual? Would that work?"

Sasuke was staring at him much the same way Naruto had when he'd hit Sasuke the day before; wide eyes and jaw dropped.

"You… like me?" he asked quietly. At this, Naruto's blush exploded all over his face and he dragged his hand back and covered his face with it while the other, palm open and fingers splayed, made jerky shaking motions at Sasuke.

"That's not it! Ah well it kinda is but-! I mean! I…" As Naruto babbled he peered through a gap in his fingers to peek at Sasuke and was knocked breathless by the other, word vomit coming to a stop. Sasuke looked so weirdly normal sitting there with his bare, bruised body and honest, tear stained expression. Such a stark contrast to the high and mighty bastard Naruto was used to. And somewhere inside, the blonde felt a fluttering at the knowledge that he had drawn that out of the stoic Uchiha.

'_Tchhhh! There's no way I can refuse you when you look like that, Teme!'_

"What I mean is-" Naruto flopped forward onto Sasuke's legs and buried his face in his arms, knowing full well that the catcher could still see the red tips of his ears. He groaned loudly, feeling Sasuke's nervous hands holding the air around his head and wished the bastard would hurry up and touch him, make him feel like he was saying the right thing. But of course Sasuke was nervous too. No matter how much of a super human catcher he was; able to take Naruto's deathly pitches; no matter how unaffected he seemed by everything… He really was just an ordinary teenage boy too. And he'd clearly had a much harder time with this than Naruto.

'_Gotta man up.'_

"I… I want to try being Sasuke-sexual. If it's Sasuke, I think I could do it. I don't want you to be… upset over me anymore, ya know?" Naruto mumbled before burrowing further into his arms even though it was hard to breathe in such a confined space with the heat.

"And," he started nervously before turning his head out and looking up to Sasuke who was looking down on where Naruto lay on his legs, hands fallen flat by his sides. The surprised but no longer sad look on the raven's face was enough to give Naruto his confidence back. He grinned a little. "I don't want my catcher to be freakin' out and then babble out shit that doesn't make any sense while his face is all messy and teary." Sasuke frowned embarrassedly and pulled Naruto's hair harshly, making the other boy laugh loudly. "It's bad for the team, ya know."

"Is that the reason?" asked Sasuke bluntly and Naruto smiled at the way his usual unimpressed tone resurfaced.

"W-well, you are sort of…" The blonde's heart began to beat a little bit fast, a loud _doki doki _ filling his ears. But he wouldn't lose here. "Y-you're pretty cute I guess. For a dude." The blonde pulled a playful face. "Uwah, that was so weird! I'm gonna have to work on that."

He half expected Sasuke to huff his little snort of a laugh but it seemed the Uchiha was still a bit shaky and replied only with:

"On liking me verbally?"

"Yeah, that."

"Are you sure you can do it at all? Liking me…"

"Is that a challenge?" Naruto smiled but Sasuke was still tense.

"It's not a challenge."

Naruto took a moment to examine Sasuke's face, admiring the small traces of either shy or humiliated blush that lingered behind his smooth, pale skin.

"I have honestly always thought you were different though, ya know, Sasuke. You're really cute," murmured Naruto into the thick air.

When Sasuke parted soft, pink lips Naruto's gaze traced the line of perfect teeth and the tiny quirk of the other's lips.

"That's my line, Dobe." Again the feeling of blood rushing hot and fast to Naruto's face.

"E-eh?! Don't say stuff like that so easily, Teme! You haven't been making sense all this time and now you can say something like that so clearly?! What the hell!? You-! You-!"

"Hn. Moron."


	13. Chapter 13

**Lovely #13**

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**.**

For the past ten minutes, Uchiha Sasuke had been leaning against the hood of his car, completely alone in the car park. He'd been cleaning the lenses of his sunglasses with the hem of his t shirt, humming softly to himself when suddenly he became very aware of the presence of another person. He'd been too lost in his own thoughts to even notice the growl of her car pulling up alongside his but when he looked up, there was a woman standing in front of her own car.

She wasn't looking at him but as he slowly lowered his gaze, he began to feel her sneaking peeks at him.

It wasn't unusual. Actually, Sasuke was rather used to young women staring at him. It had happened all through middle school and then throughout high school, even after he and Naruto had gotten together. Naruto liked to joke about it but it irritated Sasuke. But then his annoyed, serious face seemed to encourage women even more.

However this woman didn't feel quite the same. She was stealing glances at him but it didn't seem the same as it usually was. Sasuke raised his eyes once more, just in time to catch her own gaze on him. He quirked an eyebrow and the woman laughed nervously, shuffling around to face him and the raven tried not to sigh, a little angry at himself that he'd given her the prompt for conversation.

"Ahaha, I'm sorry to stare at you like that, it's just... Have we met before?"

Sasuke set his teeth.

_'__Really, that's what you've got? Sorry lady, I don't swing that way.'_

"No, I'm quite sure we haven't," the man replied, turning away discreetly. But the woman was still watching and after a minute he heard her make a small '_eh_-' sound before:

"Are you perhaps… Natsuki chan's father—well, one of her fathers?"

Ah- she wasn't after him if she knew that much. But Sasuke immediately tensed. The woman's tone seemed pleasant enough however Sasuke had struck this kind of thing before.

_'__Are you and him gay?'_

Lulled into a false sense of security by a neutral sounding question.

_'__Oh, um, we're together, yes'_

_'__That's disgusting!' _

But the question involved his daughter and there was no way he could answer anything other than yes, he was her father.

Sasuke spoke slowly.

"And if I am?" He eyed the woman, body language still loose but eyes hard and guarded. He watched her shoulders twitch upwards in surprise, hands coming up to wave at him as she realized her mistake.

"Ah- no, no. I didn't mean to sound strange." She smiled tightly, clearly finding conversing with the Uchiha much more difficult than expected, but pressed onward. "Um, I'm Shizune, Ryo's aunt. He lives with me. I'm sure he's said something about me, ne? I've waited to pick him up outside your house once or twice before." Shizune smiled more easily, opening her palms to him. Sasuke ran his tongue over his teeth as he unclenched his jaw, relaxing a little but now concerned not with this woman's opinion, but with the fact that she was closely connected to that little brat who seemed to be hanging around with his daughter more and more these days.

"Really, is that so? How is Ryo… kun?" Sasuke tagged the honorific on politely.

"He's good; he seems very happy at school and is especially happy about being friends with your daughter. He's always raving about her and I've always wanted to meet her parents—ah, fathers—because she's such a sweetheart, you know? Maa, he talks about you and your… about Uzumaki san aswell."

Sasuke turned the corners of his pressed lips down.

"What did he say?" He knew it sounded blunt. But he couldn't help it when it came to matters concerning Ryo. He had to be on his toes around the boy. Sasuke wouldn't have him wriggling his way into wherever he wanted with sweet words and stupid grins. He had to find out what he'd been saying before Ryo told Naruto to his face. If that happened Sasuke would never escape the 'he's such a nice boy!'s and 'Ne, ne, Sasuke! Listen to what Ryo said to me today! I hope he and Natsu really do get married!'s from Naruto.

The thought alone was almost more than he could handle.

Shizune looked a little put off by Sasuke's short manner but continued regardless.

"Ah… He seems very fond of you, I think."

_'__Fond?!' _

The woman's eyes softened and she looked to where her hand rested atop the bonnet of her car.

"He doesn't have that male figure in his life, you know. So I think you've been really good for him. Uzumaki san too. He likes him a lot." A laugh and dark eyes back to Sasuke, smile in place. "He calls him 'Naru san' you know. It's very sweet. He says Naru san's cooking is messy but yummy and 'Sasuke san' looks after both him and Natsuki chan, sewing up their rips and things like that."

Shizune chuckled again and then continued. "Anyway, I'm happy Ryo has this kind of interaction with the two of you as well as playtime with Natsuki chan. Thank you for taking care of him."

The woman bowed a little and Sasuke just stood speechless. Horrified.

The Uchiha couldn't understand it. Actually that wasn't entirely true, he understood how Ryo could talk so fondly of Naruto, everyone liked Naruto, but about _Sasuke_?

He could just imagine the kid's face as he told a curious Shizune all about 'Naru san' who did the cooking and 'Sasuke san' who could sew up rips.

_'__Guuuuh! Pisses me off!'_

Every time Ryo was at their house Sasuke tried his very best not to show the boy any of the softness that Naruto and Natsuki could bring out of him; always cold and quiet, staring down on the boy when they passed each other, sometimes scowling a little. He'd used this technique on the odd girl who he caught chasing Naruto with their eyes in the school hallways and it had always scared them off.

Even when he was fixing the strap on Ryo's shoe (at Natsuki's command), even when he was handing the two little juice boxes and sandwiches, Sasuke had always sniffed disapprovingly at the boy, wrinkling his nose.

Apparently it hadn't had much effect.

Or maybe he was losing his touch…

As Sasuke considered this, the school bell rang and the grounds were soon full of small, squishy bodies all hurrying toward the car park or front gate. Both Shizune and Sasuke stood up a little straighter, eyes searching for their respective child although Sasuke had a terrible feeling they'd both end up looking in the same direction. Shizune found them first and pointed Natsuki and Ryo out to Sasuke with a smile while the man beside her furrowed his brows at the sight of his daughter and the brat coming down the stairs from the office together.

"Ah- Isn't that cute?" murmured Shizune as Ryo stepped onto the next step and then reached a hand back up to Natsuki above him, his free hand pressed to his chest in a princely manner. Even at a distance, Sasuke could see Natsuki's lips part to burble some precious sweet nothing as she lay her hand in Ryo's and allowed him to guide her down the stairs, although by the time they reached the bottom they had slipped from a prince helping his princess down the staircase, back to two excitable children, now clasping hands tightly between them and jumping to the ground from the last step, giggling wildly.

The hand holding lasted all the way to the car park once the children spotted Shizune and Sasuke and came rushing over.

"Heya, Papa!" greeted Natsuki breathlessly and Sasuke smiled easily, reaching to lift her bag from her small shoulders, effectively getting Ryo to part ways with Natsuki's hand to get the straps off.

"Hey Bub, good day?"

"Mhmmm~"

"Hello, Sasuke san!" Ryo, who was handing his own bag to his aunt, smiled pleasantly up at the Uchiha, his little face flushed and dark eyes bright and shiny.

Sasuke said nothing. His brow knitted tightly together and he clenched his jaw as he glared down at the boy. Ryo's smile wavered and eventually fell to a look of what Sasuke thought could be confusion.

"Sasuke san, thats—" he began.

"Let's go, Natsuki. Goodbye, Shizune san. It was nice meeting you," said Sasuke abruptly, grabbing his daughter's hand and leading her around to the back seat, tossing her bag inside. He didn't glance up as Shizune and Ryo both called their goodbyes, and climbed into the car.

"Bye Ryo! Bye Shizune san!" called Natsuki, rolling down her window. Sasuke started up the car, moving it into gear. As he twisted around to back the car out of the car park, he caught sight of Ryo's face again and nearly slipped his foot off of the pedal.

The brat was positively beaming at the car, waving so enthusiastically his whole body moved with the arm movement and Sasuke wasn't sure what he hated the idea of more: that smile, so huge and blinding, being directed toward his precious daughter… or him.

Ryo turned to look at Shizune, telling her something, still grinning, and Sasuke was sure he heard the woman reply with something like, "So cool and manly is he? Well, he is a man so that's to be expected, ne?"

Long, pale fingers tightened dangerously around the steering wheel as they drove out of the school. Teeth grit.

Sasuke couldn't stand it. _Any of it!_ Not Ryo and Natsuki, not the ineffectiveness of his cold behaviour toward Ryo, not Ryo being 'fond' of him when he so _loathed _the boy.

_Apparently it hadn't had much effect… _

An almost defeated smile curled about Sasuke's lips as he sighed heavily. Natsuki made a curious little noise that he ignored.

How much could you do to drive a child away? He didn't know. Didn't know anything about children aside from Natsuki. All he knew was that there was no way he ever wanted to be apart from her.

_'__How do I protect Natsuki from that boy without coming off as a jerk who picks on kids…'_

"Ne, Papa, can Ryo come and play tomorrow?"

"No."

"Please, Papa? Love you forever, Papa, loooove yoooooooou lots!"

_'__Damnit.'_

"Guuuuuh…Okay."


	14. Chapter 14

**Lovely #14**

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**.**

"Uhhhh... Look at thiiiiiisss." With long fingers the blond pulled and prodded at his body as he stood before the bedroom's full length mirror in his underwear.

It was horrific.

He was getting fat.

At that moment, Sasuke appeared in the doorway, all pajama pants and singlet, leaning against the frame.

"Naru, what are you doing? You're-"

"FAT!" yelled Naruto turning heel and marching over to Sasuke. The raven lowered his chin slightly to look into glossy baby blues. Naruto's face was flushed at the cheeks and his bottom lip was trembling. He looked as if he were about to cry with that expression and Sasuke couldn't help the soft snort he emitted as Naruto's brows crinkled in distress.

"It's not funny, Teme! I'm getting fat! Look!" The smaller man proceeded to pinch at the extra bit of 'fat' padding his hips. Again Sasuke snorted a laugh but when Naruto went about pinching all his 'fat'- stomach fat, arm fat, thigh fat- Sasuke grabbed his wrist and dragged it away from where Naruto was examining his legs, straightening the blond as he went.

Again with the teary eyes. This time Sasuke sighed.

"Naruto, you're not fat. You're healthy and—"

"This!"

Sasuke was interrupted by Naruto throwing up his hands, wrenching them from Sasuke's and walking in a large circle with his eyes rolled toward the ceiling.

"This is why I'm fat, Sasuke. You keep telling me I'm not with that silky smooth way of yours and I get all weak and think, 'Ah, maybe three bowls of ramen isn't so bad'." His legs hit the edge of their bed and the blond man let his knees buckle as he fell heavily into the duvet. A finger pointed at Sasuke accusingly, twirling lazy circles around Sasuke's figure in the doorway as Naruto strained awkwardly to maintain eye contact with his boyfriend.

"This is all your fault, Teme," he said shortly before flopping himself fully backward.

"I don't wanna be fat…" he murmured into a pillow.

There were a few moments of silence where Naruto lay sulking and Sasuke stood watching, dark eyes wandering the other man's legs hanging off the end of the bed, his tan, bare thighs, the expanse of golden skinned stomach spread atop the covers.

Sasuke knew that love made people blind to their lover's faults sometimes but he was pretty sure this wasn't one of those times. Naruto was beautiful. He certainly wasn't delicate or small, in fact, of the two of them Naruto was arguably the more 'manly', but even so, he was still beautiful. And definitely not fat.

Sasuke stepped forward and walked over to where Naruto was lying, shaking his head and sighing even as he smiled a little.

_'__What a way to spend a day off…'_

When he neared he spread his legs and dropped his knees onto the side of the bed, straddling Naruto's thighs and pulling his singlet over his head. The blond opened his eyes and groaned softly.

"Don't Sasuke, I'm disgusting. Don't touch me."

"Don't be stupid, Naruto. Besides, not saying in the slightest that I think you are pudgy at all but, who said you have to be so thin all the time? Only the insecure worry about that sort of thing." And Naruto was not the insecure type.

Sasuke dipped his body so that his hands came to support himself, sinking into the duvet next to Naruto's head as he knelt over the other man.

"Are you not the strong, confident man I thought you were?" asked Sasuke lowly, deep eyes watching Naruto's eyelids drop to halfmast as one of Sasuke's hands trailed over his soft stomach, fingertips skimming along the band of his underwear. The blond inhaled deeply through his nose and unconsciously rolled his hips upwards despite his order of 'don't touch me'. Naruto hummed as Sasuke let lips brush his whiskered cheek and then pepper kisses over rich, sunny skin until he came to the space where Naruto's neck ran smoothly into his shoulder.

"A-ah…" The raven grazed his teeth over the spot before beginning to suck softly. "Mmmm Sasuke… I said don't…"

"Maybe it's baby fat, hm? Natsuki's fault?" teased Sasuke, ignoring the protest and pinching at Naruto's side as he pulled up to admire the wet, red mark.

"Sh-shut up, Teme."

Naruto was still headily lifting his hips to him and Sasuke quickly slipped a strong arm into the space between Naruto's back and the bed so that he could raise his lover's lower half off the bed to grind them together through their clothes as he knelt over him.

"Oh god Sasuke, how are you making me being fat sexy dammit?!" growled Naruto even as he pushed up into Sasuke, hands grappling into the duvet above his head. Hot panting filled the room.

"Because you are—Ah! Mmpt-" Sasuke bit his lip as Naruto moved and locked his legs around Sasuke's back, changing the angle and using Sasuke to pull himself up harder and faster. Naruto moaned quietly and Sasuke pushed back, matching him thrust for thrust.

"B-Because you _are _sexy... So goddamn sexy…"

Sasuke closed his eyes and craned down to hotly kiss the blond on the mouth, swirling his tongue in Naruto's taste and groaning deeply into the heat of his mouth as their tongues rubbed together. He was already so hot, his stomach knot in tight, aroused coils. How could Naruto ever say anything against himself when he had the power to make Sasuke like this?

"Heh, you're so loud, Teme," breathed Naruto as they parted. Sasuke growled and jumped his hand from Naruto's waist to grab harshly at his ass. The blond hissed.

"I'm hard, so hot for you Dobe, there's no way you're disgusting," Sasuke whispered to Naruto, staring into his eyes, making the other blush. Without breaking rhythm, Sasuke tugged impatiently at the underwear the other man still wore but with Naruto's legs wrapped around him it was impossible.

"If you wore something daintier I could just rip these off," he murmured, still rocking against Naruto. "Shame you aren't chubby enough to burst them yourself, eh?" He was still joking but Sasuke felt Naruto huff beneath him, quickly shifting from embarrassed to annoyed.

"Enough of that talk, Teme!"

Sasuke blinked and suddenly he was flipped onto his back with one mighty heave and roll and Naruto was sitting astride him, nimble fingers already occupied with removing Sasuke's pajama pants. The other man continued to grind their erections together even as he worked Sasuke's pants and underwear to his knees and then onto the floor. Naruto's own underwear swiftly followed.

Naruto threw his head back and panted loudly, moving faster as they slid against one another, naked, before leaning down to take Sasuke's nipple between his lips, sucking and butterflying his tongue over the bud that hardened for him immediately.

"Aah-! Naruto, stop!" Sasuke's fingers tugged at blond hair and at the command, Naruto lifted his head but his face was so flushed, eyelids so heavy, pink, plump mouth parted just so, his tongue resting against his bottom lip… Sasuke moaned again despite himself.

"Shit..."

Naruto rolled his hips and Sasuke's hand flew to his mouth.

"Fuck, Naruto, we can't do it this way in the morning! Natsu is right outside in the lounge!" Sasuke hissed as he held Naruto's face away from him as the other tried to kiss him.

"Maa, that's your fault for being so damn loud when I'm on top, you'll have to control yourself, Sasuke chan." The blond smiled down on the other with a curvy grin that was full and warm in Sasuke's palms before resuming movement. Sasuke released Naruto and reached for a pillow to stifle the sound with but Naruto caught him by the wrist and covered his mouth with his own instead, swallowing Sasuke's moans as his other hand snuck downward, taking both his and Sasuke's cocks and stroking.

"Mmpt!" As they kissed Naruto maneuvered himself back and between Sasuke's legs, bending them up with hands behind knees.

"God, you're so cute, Sasu," smirked Naruto as he broke to let Sasuke breathe, slowly creeping to press a finger against Sasuke's entrance.

"C-Cover my mouth," managed Sasuke, panting heatedly and looking up at his boyfriend, expression angry, excited and worried all at the same time. Naruto giggled devilishly, ignoring him and popped one finger through the quivering ring of muscles. Sasuke opened his legs wide, hips jerking and Naruto admired the long white body before him; although tall and broad Sasuke was so pink in the face, chest heaving, legs spread…

"Oolala~ Sasuke chan is so naughty! So lewd~"

"Haa… Just do it! Qu-Quick.."

Naruto leaned over and kissed Sasuke's forehead briefly, still smiling to himself even as Sasuke writhed and whined beneath him.  
"Eheee, your wish is my command, Ohime sama." Sasuke growled throatily and just as Naruto added another finger there was suddenly a stampede sound of impatient little fists at their door.

"Daddy! Paaaaaapaaaaaa! Hurry up! Ryo and Shizune san are here and Shizune san wants to talk to you!"

The two men blinked at each other and then:

"Oh shit! Oh shit! Sasuke, get up!"

Sasuke groaned as Naruto's fingers slipped from his body and then turned over and beat his hands once into the duvet, exposing his perfect behind and Naruto very nearly jumped back in but restrained himself, throwing Sasuke his pants.

"Come on, you."

Natsuki pounded angrily at the door for another few minutes until Naruto and Sasuke, all messy hair and flushed faces, met the waiting Shizune at the door. Sasuke glowered at the woman who they had come to know as their daughter's beloved's aunt and caregiver and Naruto smiled nervously as they discussed a pick up time for Natsuki from her play date with Ryo.

"If you don't mind me asking," began Shizune, blinking a few times fast. "What on earth were you two doing, no offense but you look a bit of a mess." Naruto swallowed thickly at the woman's subtly suspicious tone.

"We were f—"started Sasuke lowly and receiving a sharp elbow to the side.

"F-Finding something under the bed," finished Naruto. "Yup, it was hiding under there pretty good, mhhm." He fingered his disheveled blonde locks with another tight grin.

"Uhuh…" Shizune gave them one more strange look and then smiled a little awkwardly before heading out the door with Natsuki and Ryo in hand. The two fathers watched them go.

As soon as the door clicked shut Naruto turned and shook Sasuke's arm.

"Oh my God, she's gonna totally hate us! She knows what we were doing! Guuuuuuuhhh! Now how will Ryo and Natsu get married?"

"_That's_ what you're concerned about?" grumbled Sasuke. Naruto ignored him and started for the kitchen, muttering something about coffee. Sasuke was about to follow when the blond screeched at him from behind the next wall.

"And I'm _FAT_!"

"You're _not _fat!"


	15. Chapter 15

**Lovely #15 [The Early Years]**

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**.**

Loving someone like Naruto really is strange.

Sasuke sits with his arms crossed, a desk behind the blond's, simply watching him mess around and have Kiba shove pencils up his nose. He thinks they might be trying to make him into a walrus or something, but who really knows what's going on in the heads of those two. They're like two peas in a pod, but the pod is all gnarled and deformed, just like their brains. It's okay though, because the peas still taste delicious.

At least, that's what Sasuke thinks, though he forcefully cuts off that train of thought because Naruto has noticed him staring and shot him a look.

Yeah, one of _those_ looks.

Because he knows.

Because Sasuke told him.

He almost wishes he hadn't because, even though he knows Naruto well enough and trusts him well enough to know he wont strictly use his own feelings against him—Naruto is too much of a good guy for that, like a natural little home town hero-, he can see that the other will have no problem with using this explicit knowledge for things just between them.

It's difficult to be in love with a kid like that.

When Kiba leaves, Naruto kicks back his chair onto two legs, not even afraid as his chair tips back to lean against Sasuke's desk. The older simply looks on as Naruto's head tilts back in kind and there it is again. That look.

It's part smarmy, part mischevious and a whole lot of amused and it makes Sasuke only scowl down at him. The little upside down smirk on Naruto's lips bothers him because he loves the other's face. He loves those little nuances and the scar tissue that collected along his cheeks. Those bright eyes staring straight at him without missing a beat and not even stuttering in getting across exactly how Naruto is feeling. They're like windows right into his soul. On the other hand, he hates Naruto's stupid face. But only because he loves it so much.

Backwards logic, but Sasuke doesn't concern himself with his skewed perspective of the world.

"Hey," Naruto voices lowly.

"What," is Sasuke's reply. Not even a question.

He can see in his peripherals the way Naruto's toes are twiddling in his socks, both feet up on his desk. It's gross that he puts his feet up like that; he _eats_ there. Whatever. Naruto's always been unhygienic and Sasuke's sure that he can't fix someone so bent now.

Still, he's got pretty hair. It looks soft.

"So, you know…" Naruto continues as if Sasuke hadn't even said anything, and that smirk spreads outwards and down, up if you take into consideration that Naruto's looking at him upside down, eyes squinting a little. That happens when he thinks he's being sneaky. "There's a new batting cage that opened in Suna…"

"So." He doesn't even miss a beat, leaning forward on his folded arms and reaching one up to prod playfully at Naruto's head, watching those pretty blue eye slide inward and cross and try to follow his finger up the length of Naruto's little nose. The scrunch he gets between his eyebrows is really entertaining. Sasuke has a sort of complex about it.

"_Soooooooooo_….," he intones, wiggling his head from side to side, the two legs of his chair are balancing on doing the same precariously before he points a fierce gaze up at Sasuke again. "Don'tcha wanna go?"

He does.

Naruto knows he does.

But he won't admit it.

"You have to re take your math test." He's quick to jab Naruto's forehead again, relishing into the sharp sound he emits as well as the way he almost slips his chair out from under him and Naruto flops back onto the four legs before he turns and just as quickly flips around to sit facing backwards. He scoots his chair up against Sasuke's desk, grinding noisily against the floor as he crosses his own arms across the back and shoots Sasuke a petulant glare that says, '_You always ruin my fun! Weh!_' It makes Sasuke feel accomplished in a way. "Don't think I've forgotten about that; I told you last week that we wouldn't go anywhere until you take it."

"But… you like me." It's said with full pout in tow and Sasuke's eyebrows pop into his forehead before he sputters incredulously, reaching forward to pinch the other's cheeks between thumb and forefinger.

"That doesn't mean shit!"

"Bud—Shhaskayyy-!"

"No!"

Naruto's eventually able to wrestle his face from the other's hold, his own hands gripping tightly to Sasuke's wrists as he pins him with a fervent gaze and, crap, Sasuke's hooked.

"But it's okay, 'cause I like you too, you know."

And that's when Sasuke wilts.

But only on the inside.

His scowl is still set in place but his hands unclench in Naruto's hold, nonchalantly taking in the way his thumbs have started running over his pulse point.

"I know…"

"So then you'll take me?"

"No way in hell."

And when Naruto's face scrunches up, Sasuke's inclined to take those boyish cheeks in his fingers again, but then that look morphs into something more contemplative and almost… coy?

"You should take me," he begins, lowly in the classroom, though no one's really paying them any mind, so used to the boys being more touchy feely than anyone would have ever thought possible. "Cause I already took it at Iruka's."

And everyday, Sasuke finds himself surprised in some way by Naruto. He took the test already, eh? Something flutters in Sasuke's gut then, because they're both so new to this whole love thing, and it's still difficult to even get on each other's wavelength even just as friends.

"Oh?" Is the intelligent reply and Naruto nods before he grins and absolutely WRIGGLES in his seat.

"I got an 88."

"Oh." That was a more surprised _oh_, surely.

And then his eyes flick calculatingly over the way Naruto's looking intently at him, blue eyes fervent, mouth set in a strong smile—nearly a grin, and his fingers are clenched a little on the opposite arm—

_OH._

Sasuke feels that little giddy feeling trickle through him because… Naruto's trying to impress him.

And that's nice.

Instead, he simply reaches a finger out to poke at his forehead again, wondering how many times it would take to form an actual crater in the other's skull. He doesn't say anything other than, "And at Iruka sensei's counts as school."

Naruto's not listening though, he's too busy glaring and rubbing at his head and muttering evil incantations under his breath to his ramen gods.

And that's the point in time where Sasuke really needs to leave, maybe get some fresh air or a fresh perspective from Shikamaru because a trying-too-hard Naruto is just strange. It's strange loving him the way he acts. Getting up, he ignores the other calling to him and waves a hand over his shoulder.

It's with a little sly smirk over his shoulder that he replies, "Tomorrow then, moron. Loser buys dinner."

And he's just able to catch the quick flash of surprise come over Naruto's face before that big, bright smile blooms on his face and Sasuke has to high tail it out of the room. And _fast_.

Otherwise he might have kissed him.

Oh well.


	16. Chapter 16

**Lovely #16**

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**.**

It was an overcast grey day and beside him, Sasuke could feel Naruto tensing as they stood before the graves. He sidestepped slightly and pressed closer to the blond who slipped a hand into his and squeezed. It was their first time bringing Natsuki here and they were both nervous, unsure how the child would take it. Her fathers stood behind her and watched the back of her curly haired head as she tilted it sideways, the flowers she was holding with both arms rustling as Natsuki shuffled her feet a little in the grass. Before her lay one headstone reading both 'Namikaze Minato' and 'Uzumaki Kushina'. Sasuke blinked slowly and felt a pull in his chest, mind wandering momentarily from the graveyard.

He'd never met Naruto's parents because he and Naruto had met in highschool and Naruto's parents died when Naruto was still young but Sasuke remembered his mother talking about them. When Sasuke was a baby the Uchihas had lived in this town and then had to move away due to Sasuke's father's work. They had then moved back to Konoha in Sasuke's first year of highschool.

The day Sasuke brought Naruto home with him the first time, one day after baseball practice, Uchiha Mikoto had leapt upon the boy, holding his face in her hands and said to Naruto, "your Kushina's boy aren't you? You look just like her. Minato too."

Naruto had teared up at that and they'd had to retreat to Sasuke's room with the blond wiping his nose and muttering excuses. After Naruto left, Sasuke asked his mother about Naruto's family and Mikoto told him stories about how Kushina had been pregnant with Naruto when they moved away and how they had been good friends. How Kushina had been a relatively big part of Sasuke's first few months of life.

"What a shame it is that she isn't here to see what a handsome son she has," said Mikoto.

In the Uchiha family photo album there was a picture of a beautiful red haired woman smiling gently at the camera while holding a baby Sasuke in tender arms which she rested atop the swell of her pregnant stomach. In another there was a secretly taken snap of Itachi walking hand in hand with Uchiha Fugaku and another man who Sasuke believed to be Naruto's father. There was an old home video somewhere that was, as Sasuke recalled, of Sasuke in his cot and his mother and Kushina's voices musing over the future friendship of their sons while poking at the baby boy's tiny, soft hands.

Sasuke had never shown Naruto any of this and had always warned his mother against it too.

"Sasu…" whispered Naruto very quietly, wriggling his hand free and changing the contact to linking his arm through the loop Sasuke's arm made when put his hands into his pockets. He could feel the smaller man trembling a little. Sasuke watched Natsuki closely before answering to make sure the girl hadn't heard her Daddy. It somehow seemed very important for her to move on her own without any prompting. Or maybe it was because neither man really knew what to tell her.

"She had to come here sometime Naruto, its only right that she knows. She keeps asking 'where's Daddy's Mama and Papa?' every time we visit my parents."

"I know but… This is kind of…" Naruto whined through his teeth and Sasuke rolled his eyes, trying to make light of the situation but honestly he was nervous too. This was Natsuki's first encounter with death.

"Naruto, she'll be-" Sasuke was cut off by Natsuki suddenly bobbing down onto her knees and reaching a little hand out, nearly toppling forward as she struggled to keep a hold the flowers; white irises.

"Daddy's Mama?" she asked without turning, her fingers touching the engraving on the headstone. Naruto nodded and Sasuke voiced a 'yeah, Bub'.

"And Daddy's Papa?" Her pudgy fingers moved to trace the first character of 'Namikaze'.

"Yeah…"

This time she did turn her head to look back to them. Her blue-green eyes were curious and open.

"Ne, can they hear us?"

Naruto quickly nodded and Natsuki nodded back before shifting back to the grave.

"These flowers, ne," she began and both Sasuke and Naruto drew a long breath. Sasuke was a bit surprised by Natsuki's tone and the form of her words; loose and familiar though they'd taught her how to speak nicely to people she didn't know.

"They're pretty. I really like them 'cause they smell nice. Daddy sometimes puts them on the table at home and I can smell them when I play under the chairs."

'On their birthdays,' thought Sasuke, leaning into Naruto.

Natsuki paused there and then looked to the flowers, lowering them from where she'd been clutching them to her chest and turning them round and round slowly in her small hands, her silence thoughtful.

"Papa said that they mean 'inspiration' but I don't really know what that means. Daddy said that you would like them anyway." Sasuke watched with a smile as the tips of Natuski's ears turned pink and she whispered shyly, "Natsuki thinks they look like frilly jellyfish. Natsuki has a frilly jellyfish dress that Papa's Mama made." Naruto chuckled softly at Natsuki's habit of addressing herself in third person when she wasn't sure if what she was saying was appropriate. Like doing so would mean that any scolding she may get for being wrong wouldn't really be at her. Sasuke snorted at the image of both Natsuki's and Mikoto's faces when the grandmother had presented the girl with the dress. Natsuki insisted that her octo-suit and jellyfish dress hung always hung side by side in her closet.

"Neee," Natsuki hummed softly to the grave and then fell quiet again for a long moment before, with careful fingers, extracted one iris and lay it at the foot of the headstone. "This one flower is from my Papa. Papa said he never knew you but he wants to give you flowers. You have to make sure you love Papa because Daddy loves Papa lots. And love me too because Daddy love me lots."

Another flower came loose from the bunch.

"And this one is from Daddy. I think he misses you lots 'cause he's holding Papa really tight right now and his eyes are all swimmy."

One more but the stem bent and Natsuki discarded it before she laid another.

"And this one's from me. I never met you but I love you, 'kay?"

She laid the rest of the bunch next to the little pile of three.

"These ones are from all of us together. And from Papa's Mama and Papa too."

At his side, Sasuke felt Naruto lift a hand to dash away tears that were most certainly leaking from his baby blues. He moved to wrap a secure arm around the other's waist although his dark eyes didn't leave his daughter. When she had begun to speak, a breath Sasuke didn't realize he'd been holding had passed quietly through his lips and as she turned to look up at them, he too felt the itch of pathetic tears at the corners of his eyes. He couldn't really think of a time he'd been more proud of her. He really had fallen for her just as hard as Naruto and now there was no escaping the way her simple little gestures made his heart swell or emotion rumble in his ears. The way she made Naruto and himself stand and lean their heads to each other with fond smiles while watching how she made others laugh. How she loved so honestly whether it be her hand in Ryo's (which Sasuke still really didn't like but was forced to allow by Naruto) or the glimmers of admiration still in her eyes when she looked at 'Hinata sensei' though she'd already left kindergarten.

Naruto was crying quietly into Sasuke shoulder and Natsuki was watching her Daddy, smiling and seemingly understanding that it wasn't that Naruto was sad or hurt. He was happy.

Without moving away from supporting Naruto, Sasuke sniffed a long wet breath and then reached his free hand to Natsuki crouching on the ground who took it and let her Papa lift her to her feet. Today she wore worn blue overalls over a yellow shirt so as soon as she was standing, Sasuke gripped the 'X' on the back of her overalls with one hand and raised her into the air.

"Papa!" she exclaimed, bursting into giggles that filled the graveyard but Sasuke lifted her higher and then swung her at Naruto who clumsily accepted his daughter into surprised arms with a yelp as Sasuke's supporting arm fell away from his hips.

"Sasuke that was a bit dangerous, you could have-" Sasuke interrupted by dragging Naruto forward with two fingers through his belt loops and kissing him chastely on the mouth.

"Mmpt-!" Went Naruto against Sasuke's warm lips.

"Mmpt!" Mimicked Natsuki as she snuggled her face between her fathers' cheeks and pressed her own kiss to the side of their locked lips, one hand holding one of Sasuke's long bangs and the other carefully gripping the thick blond tresses above Naruto's ear to steady herself.

"Kisses for Daddy," she sang cheerfully when they broke apart and Naruto laughed, scrubbing away tears.

"Ice cream for Natsuki?" he suggested and Natsuki chirped happily.

"Let's go then." Naruto bumped Natsuki up in the crook of his elbow and she held him securely around the neck. He then reached for Sasuke's hand and the raven smiled at him before leaning in to whisper:

"That wasn't so bad, was it, Naru?"

"No, not so bad, Sasuke."


	17. Chapter 17

**Lovely #17 [The Early Years]**

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**.**

'_Pfft! Look at you two.'_

Kiba stood, lips curling in an entertained smirk as he rolled the baseball bat he was shouldering against his neck. It was hot today and playing sport during P.E., even if it was his beloved baseball, had left his muscles tight and without the chance to cool down. The action felt nice as the boy observed what was coming down the driveway of Konoha High.

Sasuke and Naruto running towards the front doors. A very sleepy looking Naruto with only the first two buttons of his shirt done up, collar popped and the front of his belt open, being pulled along by the hand by a very panicky looking Sasuke. The raven was growling something at the blond who mumbled back, still wiping at his heavy eyes with his free hand, bag slung over one shoulder and hanging unzipped. To anyone else, the way the two were running in together might have looked like nothing special. The hand holding could be put down to the fact that Naruto was still half asleep and couldn't be trusted to follow obediently along behind Sasuke on his own. But even so, Kiba still found it a bit amusing.

It was almost the end of first period and Kiba was taking the very long way around the school to take his bat back to the equipment shed, dawdling and taking his sweet time, stopping as he rounded a corner to watch Naruto and Sasuke. He wasn't sure what his sempais might have had (although it looked like they hadn't attended it) but he knew that their year was doing an exam during second period. Looked like Naruto had overslept which wouldn't be out of character but Kiba did wonder about Sasuke. The Uchiha was always so organized and, with Sasuke calling the shots, he and Naruto who walked to and from school together were usually here early which Kiba liked because since they weren't having morning baseball practices, it gave him a chance to hang out with his sempais outside of lunch break.

As they neared and Sasuke's grumbling came within earshot, Kiba stifled a laugh.

"Usuratonkachi! I can't believe you were still asleep! You should be damn grateful that Kakashi let me cut first period and come and get you!"

"Mmmgh, but Sasuke… It was so hot last night and I couldn't sleep…"

"Whatever, you moron! Just hurry up, the exam is going to start any minute!"

"Ehhhh? Well, why didn't you come get me like always!? Then I wouldn't sleep in like this! I don't got no nice mama to wake me up!"

"You're the one who said 'go on ahead' because you didn't want to come and study early in the library with me!"

"Guuuuh! I'll come next time for sure!"

The two breezed past where Kiba was standing to the side without noticing him and straight through the highschool doors leaving the front grounds quiet again. Kiba strolled out into the open and looked in after where Naruto and Sasuke had disappeared, grinning, flashing his sharp teeth.

Kiba didn't think that a lot of people would notice it, but some people, people with the right mind set, were sure to realize that there was definitely something going on there. Something in the tight grip of Sasuke's fingers around Naruto's. In how as they flew through the doors, Kiba saw the traces of a shy smile at Naruto's lips with the contact. In the way Kiba was almost positive that Sasuke would jerk them to a stop right outside the exam classroom and hastily turn to Naruto, fumbling the rest of his buttons closed while Naruto did up his belt. Sasuke folding the other's collar flat against his neck and then lingering hands on the blond's shoulders; usually cold, harsh eyes, soft for a moment before:

"Good luck, Dobe. Be sure to actually write something, na?"

"Yeah, try not to write too much and outshine us all, you bastard."

A curvy grin and a snorted laugh before they hurried inside to Kakashi's growling and the exam's start.

The quirk of the junior's lips softened and he shifted his weight to his other leg.

'_Even though it's almost nothing I see it so clearly; their relationship… They should be careful. Not everyone would be as chill about something like that as me…' _

He knew that Sasuke and Naruto were trying to keep the fact that they were together on the down low. It was evident in how Naruto skipped around answering when Kiba asked him about it. Even though he tried to be less direct about it, Naruto never confirmed it.

"_Uguuu, Naruto sempai, Sasuke sempai is so mean! Ne, are you really going out with this terrible guy?"_

"_Ahahah! Sasuke's just a bastard. Ignore him. Oh- are you eating the rest of that?"_

And Sasuke just completely ignored him whenever anything along the lines of him and Naruto came up.

"_Ohohoho! I bet Naruto sempai would be suuuper loud in bed! Ne, Sasuke sempai"_

"…"

Kiba had never seen them hold hands without some sort of dragging involved, much less witnessed a kiss or openly affectionate touch. They were pretty good at what they were trying to do, but there were still things. But then again only people who were able to consider the possibility of the two rivals, the two who argued so much, the two_ boys,_ being together would notice.

'_Ah- But then if only people who were okay with dudes likin' dudes could notice things like that then it's fine since they would be mean to Sempai? Ehhh? Then how obvious are they being? Not obvious at all? But, I notice! Ehhhhhh…'_

Kiba shook his head, muttering about the complexities of life and started off on his way back to the equipment shed again.

'_Maa, I don't care about it. They're kinda cute like that anyway. I guess it's fine.'_

The baseball bat rolled against Kiba's neck as he rounded another corner, imagining with a smile the complaints about his seniors' exam that were sure to fill up his lunch time.


	18. Chapter 18

**Lovely #18**

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**.**

"Papa's so stupid! This is all wrong! It should be a girl one! This is definitely a boy! Stupid Papa!"

With tiny balled fists, the girl threw the toy violently to the floor, the soft body of what was supposed to be a lobster making a soft _thump_ on the carpet under foot.

"I want a _girl _lobster, Papa!"

"Natsuki! Papa tried his best, he's not as good at sewing lobsters as-" The raven haired man kneeling before the enraged child was cut off by the start of a high pitch wail. Fat tears were rolling down the girl's flushed cheeks and for a moment the young father flailed, trying desperately to think of something to calm his daughter, how to magically fix the situation—!

Before regaining his composure.

He took a deep breath and hardened his delicate features.

This was unacceptable behavior.

"Natsuki! Stop that noise right now! I said I did my best and now look at you! I really tried hard, if you'd stop your crying for a minute we could—" But it was useless. The crying got louder and Uchiha Sasuke closed his eyes, gritting his teeth, fingers closing tightly around the body of the lobster that he had reached to retrieve when Natsuki had thrown it.

"I HATE YOU PAPA!" Screamed Natsuki, stamping her furious little foot once hard and then attempting to flee the living room. She was heading straight for the front door, hair a flurry of messy brown curls. But Sasuke was quicker.

It was stormy outside, miserable and cold and Natsuki had a fever. It was the whole reason Sasuke set out to make her the toy she wanted. Nowhere sold something as obscure as lobster soft toys, much less distinctively female lobster toys, so he had had no choice but to break out the sewing kit. But it had somehow escalated to this.

"I'M GOING TO FIND DADDY!"

It was dangerous and windy and his little girl was _definitely_ _not _going to find Naruto. Even if she screamed 'I hate you' in his face for the rest of the day.

At the archway that allowed flow from living room to kitchen and on to the front door, Sasuke caught Natsuki's small arm in a soft but firm grasp, pulling her back. The girl struggled and screamed, throwing a tantrum and clearly worsening her condition as she held her ringing head even as she continued to writhe.

"Natsuki!" Sasuke tangled his arms around the girl, lifting her, and felt her fever raging hot against his skin. "Natsuki, stop it! You're making yourself sick!"

"I WANT DADDY! I DON'T WANT PAPA!" The child twisted her body violently and Sasuke nearly completely lost his grip on her, swiftly dropping to his knees to let her to the floor.

"Daddy is out right now! Come back and-"

"NOOOO!" With her eyes scrunched closed in anger, Natsuki lashed out, plunging her body to the left and away from her father. "I DON'T WANNA—!"

"NATSUKI!"

The girl yelped loudly as her soft baby body came into heavy contact with one of the bookshelves next to the door. The wooden frame toppled wildly and Sasuke watched, horrified, as the books came loose; the ornaments, the photo frames… There was a terrible sense of slow motion as he looked to his daughter, buckled on her knees at the base of the bookshelf, staring up. Her frightened eyes were wide and unusually blue in a way that reminded Sasuke of the girl's Daddy.

"PAPA!"

"NATSUKI!"

Sasuke caught sight of a shiny, gold something as he launched forward toward the girl.

"GET DOWN, NATSUKI!"

The room was silent save for the continuous beep of a monitor. In the middle of the room lay a dark haired man on a hospital bed, asleep apparently. His head was bandaged up to stop the bleeding from the back of his skull. To his right sat his blonde partner, bent over in his seat with his face in his hands. Next to him sat their daughter.

"How did this happen, Natsuki? What happened to Sasuke?" The blond spoke to the girl without lifting his head. His hair was soaking wet and the drops falling to the floor were making a neat little puddle on the lino. His coat was a sopping pile next to his chair. He still held his cellphone tightly in one hand, the screen still showing the details of the ended call from the hospital. The small girl swallowed thickly at her father's use of the other man's given name in front of her. But he was waiting and she was too shaken not to answer. With her arms crossed tightly over the front of her pajamas, fingers picking nervously at the dressing on her carpet burned elbow, she opened her mouth to speak.

"Papa… Papa made me a toy… But it was wrong. So I got mad and ran into the bookshelf. Papa jumped on me and protected me but books fell on him and then your baseball trophy fell on Papa's head…"

"The baseball trophy…" murmured Naruto. "What was wrong with the toy Natsuki, Papa is pretty good at making toys…"

"I-It was a boy one, and I asked for a girl one… I wanted ribbons…" Natsuki's voice wobbled with tears as her blond haired father still refused to look to her, to comfort her, kiss her carpet burn. She sounded scared and upset. Naruto could sense the girl knew she'd been stupid about the issue but the man couldn't help but snap at her.

"Ribbons?! You were mad about ribbons?! You know I use ribbons for presents Natsuki! God, I wrapped Ryo's present yesterday didn't I? Why couldn't you just say 'thank you' and wait for me to make you ribbons? I'd tie them any damn way you want; I'd make them any way you asked for…"

He heard the sob building in Natsuki's chest and instantly regretted being so harsh. She was only a child. And she was sick; she was bound to be irritable. She was always such a good girl…

"N-Ne, D-Daddy…" Naruto guiltily lifted his tired, blue eyes to meet his daughter whose own eyes were more blue than green against her flushed with fever skin. She was clutching the front of her pajama shirt, her face all scrunched up as she tried not to cry, probably feeling that if she was to blame she wasn't allowed to be upset. Naruto sighed heavily and reached over to take Natsuki's hand in his. She squeezed his fingers hard.

He had no idea how she'd even gotten an ambulance for Sasuke… Not knowing any phone numbers but her own, Natsuki had probably tried every speed dial on their phone until she got some help while her Papa bleed all over their carpet…

"Oh, Bub, I'm sorry, I'm just worried about Papa, ne? Don't cry, Baby. I got really scared when the doctor called me…"

"D-Daddy, Papa will be better, right? The doctor man will fix Papa's noodle right? I don't want to buy jellyfish flowers for Papa too! I don't want to even if Daddy buys Natsuki ice cream after!"

Naruto grimaced.

'_Now look what you've done, you idiot.'_

"It's gonna be alright Natsuki, we're just waiting for some scans to come back. His noodle will be fine. Your Papa is a very smart man after all, he needs his noodle. He'll be up and about in no time, you'll see."

"U-un." The girl didn't look convinced.

"Ne, show me the smile you'll show Papa when he wakes up, Natsu." Natsuki perked up at the affectionate nickname. Naruto smiled weakly at her and the girl stretched her lips out into the biggest smile she could muster although it looked very strained and sad. The blond laughed softly even so.

"Daddy…"

"Hmmm?"

"Let's make something for Papa."

"Like what? Food or something? Papa doesn't really like sweets and bringing him something else might be hard…"

"Let's make ribbons."

Sasuke woke very slowly to the painful throbbing that had engulfed his entire head. As he came to he made an ungraceful, groaning noise. A sharp, clinical smell filled his nose and he vaguely recognized the scratchy sensation of whatever he was wearing. Vision clearing, he was assaulted by a bright pink something near where he was looking to watch his fingers receive the message from his brain to open and close.

"Whaa…" He blinked several times and then lifted his heavy limb to bring the splash of pink at his wrist closer to his eyes. The world past the colour swayed as if underwater and the raven had to force himself to focus.

_A ribbon? _

Yes, a ribbon.

Sasuke lifted his eyebrows, squinting and very gently rolling his head sideways to read a very shakily and simply written 'Sorry' in what he recognized as his daughter's hand along the ribbon. With a soft snort he let his arm drop back to his side and looked around the room. He was in the hospital. From that incident with the bookshelf…

'_As if she needs to be sorry.'_

The room was currently empty but Sasuke, mind becoming less groggy, knew Naruto had been here. His coat was hung carelessly over the back of a nearby chair and on Sasuke's side table was an empty paper cup that he could still smell the scent of coffee on. Two and a half empty sugar sachets next to it. As dark eyes came away from the trail Naruto had left, he noticed that his other arm also had a ribbon tied around it.

'Get well soon, Papa'

The handwriting was considerably neater and very familiar.

Naruto.

Sasuke smiled and closed his eyes as he sighed contentedly, the efforts of his family momentarily distracting him from the pounding in his head, particularly towards the back.

What was also distracting was the way his hair, unusually coarse, was brushing against his cheek, even though, from the feel of it, someone (probably Naruto) had tucked it behind his ears for him. Annoyed, Sasuke lifted a hand uncoordinatedly and batted at it. But when his fingers made contact he realized it wasn't his hair.

The raven opened his eyes slowly, previous smile becoming tight on his lips.

'_It can't be'_

But alas, it was. More ribbon and Sasuke's still weak fingers couldn't seem to pull it out. His fingertips fumbled over the bow but he found it double knotted and tied so tightly and so close to the roots that he couldn't slide it from where it was tied around his long bangs. To make it worse, it was the same on the other side.

'_No way…'_

He could imagine how ridiculous he looked. Bangs all tied up in ribbons of unknown colour and then the damn ends tucked stupidly behind his ears!

At that moment a nurse chose to come click-clacking down the hallway and into Sasuke's room. He could feel heat rising in his cheeks even as he tried to look serious.

"I see you're awake, Uchiha san."

"Hn."

She smiled pleasantly and came around to take his temperature without another word. Sasuke blushed even more as she leaned in to put the thermometer in his ear, right next to the ribbon. As she made to leave, she turned and pointed her pen at him.

"Whoever wrote that ribbon," she began, an amused smile curling her pink, glossed lips. "You can tell them your noodle is going to be just fine."

"What?!" Sasuke spluttered and tried more desperately to remove the ridiculous ribbons. "Is that what it says?!" He demanded and the nurse simply nodded before shifting her gaze to the foot of Sasuke's bed.

"They're around your ankles too by the way."

"Eh!"


	19. Chapter 19

**Lovely #19**

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**.**

He'd awoken to a noise, something small and nearly undetectable amidst the plush blankets and Sasuke's soft breathing beside him. Naruto maneuvered himself quietly out of his boyfriend's possessive embrace and sidled to the side of the bed. His legs hung over the side while his head quirked sideways. Listening. Waiting.

_Bump._

There it was again!

A sinking feeling took place in his chest as his mind was instantly cleared of any sleep that may have possessed him. There was no way that was Natsuki out there. If she needed them, she wouldn't sound that quiet nor cautious; no, she'd come storming in, an epic entrance as if she were the queen of the world.

_That wasn't Natsuki._

With more grace than he'd ever possessed before and eyes focusing sharply to the nighttime, he edged over to the side of the door, hearing the soft padding of footsteps beyond. He doubled back to the side of the bed, quickly grabbing the hard, wooden baseball bat tucked away in between their headboard and nightstand, hands shaking slightly and he turned around a little too quickly and-

"Ah! Shit- Mother-fu- fucking, fucking fuck-" the list of expletives were whispered out through gritted teeth as Naruto rubbed at the spot on his temple where he'd hit the side of the lamp, his other hand, holding it still while he gathered his bearings.

"Graceful," came Sasuke's soft voice from behind and Naruto had never been happier that his boyfriend was naturally quiet because it was at that moment that a softly louder _bang_ was heard and then both of them were staring wide-eyed at the other. Like Naruto, Sasuke was instantly awake.

Before he could jump off the bed, Naruto put a hand to his chest, then flicked his finger to his lips, imploring him to be quiet and finding it funny that it was usually the other way around. Though, he could see the strain pulling at the corner of Sasuke's eyes, wrinkles blending in his brow with worry.

Naruto then proceeded to make his way back to the door, twisting slowly, carefully side stepping the floorboards he knew creaked and peeked into the hallway-

-and his heart nearly stopped.

It only took a moment from seeing the figure all dressed in black reaching towards the handle to Natsuki's room to have the blond streaking down the hallway, adrenaline rushing through his ears as he brought the bat up behind him with both hands, grip tight and fierce against the thinner end and then just as quickly brought it back down against the intruders head with a thunderous _CRACK_.

He didn't think.

Didn't have time to think.

Didn't have time to see much more than the body crumple down over itself and let out a moan before he had leaped over the other and pressed his own way into Natsuki's room, face feeling so hot that he thought he might explode.

"Daddy?"

Taking a quick breath in through his nose, feeling too cold and crisp and fearful, Naruto slammed his back against the door again, bat dropping from his hand before he ran over to the little girl. Her eyes were worried and brow crinkled just like Sasuke's and he-

'SHIT.'

Whispering against her head as he pressed a soft kiss over the curls, he wrapped her bright pink comforter tightly around her, making shushing sounds before hurdling her off the bed and pushing her underneath.

"What's going on? Where's Papa? D-daddy, wha-"

Quiet, baby. Just stay here for a bit- I'll be right back," He could feel himself stuttering over his words as he pushed her further into the darkness under her bed, dust bunnies kicking up into his face. "But whatever you do, do NOT move. Just stay here, sweetie. Just-just stay here."

And with that, he hoisted himself up, the sound of another _thwack_ causing a sharp tremor to course down his spine. He reached for the bat again, heading towards the other side of the room where the door was shut and prayed to God, to his father, to anyone who'd listen that it wasn't Sasuke because if this person hurt any of his goddamn family, he'd-

He burst through the door just in time to see a fist- bloodied and bruised and moving almost too quick for his eyes- come back down onto the other's head. It was only a sliver of a moment that overwhelming relief coursed through his veins seeing that Sasuke was the one throwing the punches, but then he noticed all the blood and the way the intruder wasn't moving and his head lolled to the side as Sasuke brought his arm back again-

"S-Sasuke, stop!"

He dropped his weapon, reaching across to grip tightly at Sasuke white t-shirt and hoisted him across the gap, away from the intruder to lean back against the door to Natsuki's room, eyes widening and his voice catching when the raven instantly turned to try to get back at the black-clad man again. "Oi! I said stop! He'd down, he's not moving, see?" He pulled Sasuke tighter against his chest, heart beating nearly out of it as he tightly wound his arms around the other, securing the raven's tensing arms at his sides.

His eyes darted back and forth between the apparently unconscious figure on their wooden floorboards and back to the side of Sasuke's face, eyes obscured by his unruly bangs as the man panted against him. Patting him soothingly, Naruto continued to whisper encouragements to his lover as the other unwound, feeling Sasuke's shoulders slowly droop and his breathing even out.

And then, all at once, Sasuke had turned in Naruto's grip and brought the blond into his own, one bloody hand coming up to grip the back of Naruto's head before he smashed his lips to the others. It was hard and lacking compassion but Naruto let Sasuke kiss and nuzzle at his face, his neck, his chest, his hair until the other simply breathed, bringing their foreheads together.

Naruto shivered at the feeling of warm blood dripping from Sasuke's hand onto his neck but brought his own fingers to skim the raven's side, shaking him lightly til he opened inky black eyes. And Naruto felt his own tear up at seeing the utter _fear_ in Sasuke's gaze, unwavering as it was and he could do nothing but mutter the others name when a tear began rolling down his cheek.

"Hey, hey, it's ok. It's okay now, S'uke. J-just- I- ngh." He was never good with working logically in tough situations, but Sasuke's gaze was absolutely heartbreaking, so he squeezed the raven's shoulders firmly until the other met his gaze again, blinking back tears and letting out a deep sigh.

Naruto spoke evenly and softly, even if his heart was nowhere near calm.

"Natsu's under the bed, but I don't want her to see you like this. I'm going to check on him," and he made a reassuring sound when Sasuke's squeezed his arm a little too tightly. "We need to call the police, so you do that. He might need an ambulance, too. Okay?"

The other nodded sharply and turned to rush back down the hallway to their bedroom. Naruto waited until he could hear Sasuke's deep tenor to approach the intruder on his hands and knees. He felt a sense of dread take over when he felt the fabric near his knees become soaked with liquid he knew to be blood. He shivered, but pulled the other further onto his back, bringing his ear to his chest, attempting to listen for a heartbeat. When he couldn't find one, he checked the pulse on the other's neck, pulling his mask off at the same time. It was only when he heard a soft moan slip through the intruder's mouth that Naruto breathed a sigh of relief and actually looked at the man.

It was someone he didn't know, or at least didn't recognize and by the look on Sasuke's face when he returned- shirtless- he didn't know the man either. They sat in silence for a time, only jolting up with the police finally arrived along with a slew of inspectors, paramedics, people whose professions Naruto couldn't pronounce.

And it seemed like only a few minutes had passed that the man was being hauled away in an ambulance and Sasuke was giving his statement to the police while Naruto tended to Natsuki. Naruto has changed and made Sasuke change too, ordering the raven to clean up the floorboards so Natsuki wouldn't see.

He was laying with his upper arm cushioning the little girl's curls, petting her head softly when she'd jolt at a loud noise until she'd fallen back into a fitful slumber. He could hear the talking and the shuffling outside the door but he forced himself not to register it, not to think, even as he heard the front door finally shut.

He jolted his head up as Sasuke entered the room, closing the door behind him with the full length of his body. He stood, pressed up against the white doused in dark blue shadows, eyes locked on Naruto's own and not looking like a man who'd nearly killed someone while protecting his family.

The thought made Naruto shudder.

Instead, he held out a hand, beckoning the other forward. "Hey."

"...Hey."

It was said equally as passive, slightly strained around the edges, but Sasuke followed Naruto's command nonetheless. His feet shuffled slowly over the floorboards before the bed dipped on the other side of Natsuki, causing the little girl to scrunch up tighter to Naruto. Sasuke shifted himself closer and pulled the comforter up and over the three of them more, the two men cocooning their little girl in their consensual warmth.

Sasuke pillowed his own head with his arm, reaching down to pet at Natsuki's curls as well, smiling despite himself as she let out a contented sound and fell deeper into sleep.

It was only when his hand brushed Naruto's that the blond flinched slightly.

Dark eyes raised to meet Naruto's blue, but were quickly averted. He didn't notice the small flash of hurt that passed over Sasuke's face.

"Hey," the raven said again, causing the other to look over slowly, happy that the darkness was containing the embarrassed flush as he returned the greeting.

Sasuke took a moment to compose himself. "Are you afraid?"

A blond eyebrow rose. "Of you? No. No, that's not it." A moment of pause as they stared at each other over the top of the gaudy pink comforter. "No, the situation was what scared me."

"Me too."

Naruto started at the quick response and made to interrupt but Sasuke shook his head.

"I don't think I've ever been so scared in my life." He pulled a lock of light brown behind the little girl's tiny ear, before doing the same with Naruto's own, eyes peeking almost meekly up at him. "If that guy.- _anyone_ tried to hurt you or Natsuki... I don't know what I'd do with myself."

Naruto's brow scrunched but he brought a hand up to cover Sasuke's own on his cheek. It was warm. Safe.

"I'll be damned if anyone touched my family."

Sasuke's voice was icy in its softness, but Naruto only squeezed his hand harder and smiled. Even though he was shaken and nervous, he smiled up at his lover, knowing that it was through the good and the bad, the rain and the shine.

"T'ch. Same to you, bastard."

And Sasuke's small smile matched his own.


	20. Chapter 20

**Lovely #20**

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The heat was sweltering and Sasuke simply could not believe that anyone could be bothered doing _anything._ If Sasuke, Uchiha Sasuke, so organized, so motivated, so focused, couldn't be bothered doing anything, no one could be. But there they were, Naruto and Natsuki out in the backyard all busy hands and chirpy chit chat.

Naruto was teaching Natsuki how to garden and the girl was lapping it up, squealing in delight at the way her finger disappeared into the soft soil when she poked holes for Naruto to drop seeds into, hobbling along the line of garden her Daddy had dug out for her on her knees, dirtying the skirt Sasuke had washed only this morning.

"It's warm Daddy! It's warm in the dirt!"

Naruto laughed softly, breaking momentarily from his humming of 'You are my Sunshine'.

Sasuke squinted over at them as he watched his boyfriend and daughter from where he was lazing in his boxers on a deckchair in the shade of their home.

"Ok, next we have to go back and pat the dirt back over the top of the seeds, okay?" Instructed Naruto, demonstrating how to do it, carefully moving the soil back to cover the holes with the side of his hand and then patting the spot fondly as if it were a puppy or Natsuki's curls.

"Oh- it's gone! It's all snuggly down there waiting to grow, ne Daddy?"

"Yup, now you try!"

"'Kay!"

The child proceeded to copy the actions of her father right down to the little pat at the end, her tiny hand pressing in too hard and leaving a small handprint.

"More gently, Natsuki."

"Un!"

Sasuke's dark eyes moved over the two again, taking in the way Natsuki's smile so resembled Naruto's. Despite not being blood related, the warmth and whole-heartedness of the expression was exactly the same in father and daughter. Naruto was humming 'You are my Sunshine' again, mumbling the English words he knew with a thick accent and Natsuki joined in with a garbled version of 'sunshine' every time he sung the word.

It really was quite something to see; the two of them together. Sasuke smiled listening with his eyes closing lazily to Naruto telling Natsuki the next step of gardening.

"Right, all that's left is to give them something to make them grow. Do you know what that is, Bub?"

Sasuke imagined Natsuki's enthusiastic shaking of her head, bouncy curls blinding her as they flicked this way and that.

"It's water. But we need magic water to make 'em grow good and the only way to get magic water is to get a fairy to bring it to the flowers." Sasuke could hear the curvy smile in the blonde's voice.

"A fairy? Where's the fairy, Daddy?"

There was a long silence and Sasuke, despite the extreme heat, felt a chill creep along his spine. He shivered and opened his eyes very slowly to see exactly what he'd expected. Naruto pointing at him wearing that shit eating grin the raven knew all too well. Sasuke wanted to scowl but Natsuki was gazing over at him with big shiny, admiring eyes, hopping from foot to foot and he just couldn't.

"Papa is the fairy?!"

Naruto giggled.

"Yup, he is. Don't you see his pretty white skin? Only a fairy could be that white, ne?" Natsuki agreed immediately and this time Sasuke did frown, annoyed at how she agreed with Naruto so easily. Recently she'd been getting a bit mouthy with her Papa.

"Did you know, Natsuki? Fairies don't like sunlight, that's why Papa is sitting in the shade. But they'll come into the sunshine only to bring water for gardens to very good little boys and girls. And only if they ask very nicely and give the fairy a little kiss."

Natsuki's eyes were huge as she stared at Sasuke making Sasuke bite his lip at Naruto's ridiculous story. He'd been annoyed at first with the idea of having to move but now it was a little amusing and Natuski's faith in the fairytale was adorable. Naruto could easily get water himself but he clearly wanted to make this gardening a family event. His blue eyes were a very strong colour in the bright sunshine and his smile was soft and almost as warm as the weather as he looked over to Sasuke too. He winked playfully in a way that made a familiar _'come on, Papa, come play with us'_ resound in the dark haired man's mind.

"Go on Natsu, ask Papa real nice to bring us some fairy water," prompted Naruto and Natsuki hopped to it, racing across the lawn and nearly crashing into Sasuke's deck chair. Up close, her cheeks were grubby and pink with what Sasuke prayed wasn't sunburn. Natsuki jiggled the chair as she jumped up and down while holding the side of it.

"Papa-fairy! Could you please, please, pleeease bring my garden some magic water?!" she asked enthusiastically and then climbed onto Sasuke's sitting form, fumbling over his almost bare legs, palms slip-sliding over his exposed chest before reaching to push sticky bangs from his hot forehead.

"Ah—Natsuki," He tried to stop her from putting lips to his sweaty skin but Natsuki didn't seemed to care and stamped a soft but firm kiss to his forehead, messy hands holding onto Sasuke's ears.

"Water please," she requested again against his skin and the raven sighed.

"Alright, hop off," he replied and Natsuki let out a high pitched whoop and jumped from the chair to the grass, racing back to Naruto and tugging at the hem of the man's shorts.

"He said 'yes'! Did you hear?"

"I heard."

Sasuke sighed again and started off toward the hose.

"Come into the light, Fairy san!" called Naruto and Sasuke pranced sarcastically in and out of the shadows without looking back, earning a fit of laughter from Naruto and a thrilled call of 'I love you, Papa' from Natsuki.

"Oh- And bring it in the pink watering can!"

Sasuke tried not to imagine what the neighbors would think if they happened to look over and see him dancing around the side of the house in his boxers, carrying a pink watering can.


	21. Chapter 21

**Lovely #21 [The Early Years]**

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Itachi rubbed at the side of his face, brushing away stray hairs and pushing them behind his ear as he made his way downstairs. As he passed by the back door, he had to do a double take before rushing over and sliding the door open from it's cracked position, almost reeling back in seeing a person huddled in front of it.

He instantly recognized that signature spiky hairstyle and let out a breath as he stared down at the back of Sasuke's head.

"Foolish little brother, you're going to catch a cold sitting out here this early in the morning."

He cocked his head to the side, leaning forward to catch sight of his brother's face and was slightly surprised when Sasuke jolted and stared over his shoulder as if just noticing there was a presence behind him.

"A-ah. Sorry, I couldn't sleep." He trailed off, looking to the thin layer of ice covering parts of the porch near his sock-clad foot.

Itachi took a minute to survey the way Sasuke was shaking slightly, the soft puffs of his warm breath alight in the morning air.

"...Is something the matter? You know, you could always tell me if it were," he offered, voice casual and giving nothing away.

He had to shift in an inquisitive fashion when he saw a small flush spread across the back of Sasuke's neck, his little brother turning slightly to regard him and a tight smile pulled across his face. It was so strange seeing serious, straight-laced Sasuke, sitting outside on their porch in the early morning with nothing more than socks and pajamas on, wearing the coyest little smile Itachi had ever seen.

"Sasuke?" he questioned tentatively when the other didn't respond, but looked back off towards the end of their yard, aimlessly watching the neighbor's cat crawl along the edge of their adjacent fence in the morning light.

"I'm... I'm all right," he murmured, but then shook his head quickly. "No, more than all right." The younger turned on the balls of his feet as he stood, slowly so that he didn't lose his balance after sitting down for so long, and face his brother with what could only be called the most innocent expression Itachi had ever seen.

He raised a brow slowly as Sasuke opened his mouth and closed it before opening it again.

"Aniki, I'm in love."

At that, both of Itachi's brows shot into his hairline and he was momentarily speechless, feeling his mouth pop open into a little 'o' when Sasuke's face lit up with a beaming smile before he reached his arms about his head and stretched out his back one way and then the other with a slight pop!

"Well, now that that's done, we should get some breakfast." He moved past his brother, closing the door behind himself and making his way towards their family's large kitchen with Itachi trailing close behind.

The older shook his head slightly.

"...Are you now?"

The younger peered over the counter at his brother, leaning his forearms on the table as he poked at an apple in their fruit bowl. He nodded contemplatively, spinning the red fruit atop the marble and lowering his lids thoughtfully.

"I've been thinking about it all night, and I couldn't sleep because of it," he responded, taking in a deep breath just as a stream of light peeked between their ruby red curtains and doused the counter is rouge. "But, all in all, I love him."

Sasuke's eyebrows scrunched together momentarily as Itachi studied him, reading the self conflict but also the relief of his brother's face. Itachi did not miss the slip of a masculine pronoun, but decided better than to comment. Pushing Sasuke would only close him back up into that shell of privacy he normally held. But now.. Now his position was relaxed and he seemed set on whatever he'd been thinking about, though the obvious blush from his small slip still stained his cheeks.

"I'd been having trouble coming to terms, because- logically speaking- Granny Smith apples don't mix well with Golden Delicious." Sasuke then pulled the two named apples from the basket, setting them side by side. "But I like the way they taste together and realized that's all that matters. Fuck it if other people like their apples dipped in caramel."

Itachi held up a hand because he just knew Sasuke was attempting to cover up what he'd obviously did not want known and Sasuke's mouth snapped shut before the older squeezed at the bridge of his nose.

He sighed deeply after a moment and decided seriousness was not the way to go even in so serious a situation for a young hormonal teenage boy.

"Did you really just compare an aspect of your love life to apples?"

An embarrassed flush took over the younger's face as he chucked the Granny Smith apple at Itachi and yelped something along the lines of 'Some people are stupid in love!' but Itachi distinctly noticed the way Sasuke kept his grip on the sunshine yellow apple and it was in that moment when the epiphany clicked that Itachi couldn't help but smile.

He'd get that confession out of Sasuke soon enough anyway.


	22. Chapter 22

**Lovely #22**

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Sasuke didn't even know if 'angry' began to describe how he felt.

How dare he?

How _dare_ he?!

Sasuke wouldn't have it. He would absolutely _not _have his seven year old baby come thundering through the back door from the garden with _that _face. Those flushed cheeks and scrunched up eyes, tears rolling over cheeks and catching at the sides of an open, wailing mouth, little pink lips rosy and wet with snot and crying.

He wouldn't have it.

What Ryo had done didn't matter, making Natsuki show this face was crime enough. And Sasuke would be out there right now, telling the boy he could never set foot on the property again as long as he lived, if not for Natsuki's crying face which pained Sasuke and demanded comfort equally as much as it made him want to growl the one who had caused it.

"Natsuki, stop crying, you don't need that boy," Sasuke told her as gently as he could manage through grit teeth as he knelt down before her, stopping her rampage from the backyard. She rubbed at her eyes with the sleeves of her kitten sweatshirt, staining the material with big, wet marks.

"He doesn't deserve you, Bub," he said to her, reaching out a hand in offer to her, hoping she'd come forward into his embrace. But Natsuki only wailed louder and then side stepped her Papa , taking off into the kitchen to Naruto blubbering "Daddyyyyyyyy".

Sasuke was left kneeling, frowning after her and listening to Naruto easily shushing her and telling her he didn't mean it.

"Ryo is just being silly. He didn't mean it at all. You wait, Natsu. He'll come back to say sorry in no time. And he'll be so nice and quick about it you won't even need your water gun!"

Usually Natsuki always came crying to Sasuke, he was the one she wanted to snuggle with when she was upset. She'd murmur sweet little burbles of soft Papa-hair and cuddly arms as he calmed her with rocking and sweeping circles across her back. Naruto tended to multitask, able to comfort while eating or making food or reading comics or watching TV at the same time, but Sasuke always seemed to drop everything which is why he guessed Natsuki favored him more in times like these. Naruto was for ridiculous jokes, brushing hair and silky ribbons. However right now, Sasuke could kind of understand why Natsuki didn't want him. He realized she wanted reassuring that the boy currently out in their garden hadn't meant to do whatever he had done to her, hadn't meant to ruin their (play)date, but Sasuke couldn't help but try to encourage her to drop the brat altogether.

Sasuke got to his feet and walked into the kitchen to find Natsuki attached to Naruto's hip, cradled in one arm while the blonde arranged messily made and poorly cut sandwiches on two plates. Peanut butter and jam on one that he assumed must be for Natsuki and Ryo and an assortment of Nutella and tomato on the other. He was still not great with the whole cooking thing but Sasuke tried not to interfere or criticize because when they first began this family thing Naruto did next to nothing in the kitchen aside from boil the kettle for ramen. He smiled fondly at the mix of Naruto's favourite chocolate spread and Sasuke's tomatoes.

Noticing the raven's presence, blue eyes rose to meet with black and Naruto smiled while dipping his eyebrows at the drama even as he hummed to Natsuki.

"Look Bub, Papa is here, you wanna snuggle with Papa, right? You're getting a bit heavy for Daddy to hold you with one arm." Naruto shuffled sideways and pushed the hip that Natsuki was resting on at Sasuke but instead of reaching for him, Natsuki shyly raised her head from Naruto's shoulder and watched Sasuke with her big, swimmy eyes, the cobalt colour inside a blend of blue and green standing out against pink cheeks and soft, displaced curls.

"Papa," she called, fingers drumming absently against her popped bottom lip.

"Hmm?"

"Ne, Papa… You can talk to Ryo, right?" Sasuke blinked.

"Eh?"

'_Talk? As in scare off? As in lecture? As in verbally discipline?'_

Natsuki read the confusion and ultimate refusal to 'talk' to Ryo in Sasuke's quirk of brow and downturn of mouth, the squinting of his deep eyes and drop of his jaw.

"Papa!" she exploded, smacking harshly at Naruto's shoulder. "Daddy says that Ryo meant Hana chan is cute in a cute animal kind of way, not in a cute girl kind of way and that he'll come say sorry easy as pie! But he definitely thinks you're scary, Papa! You always say mean things about him! So he won't do it unless you go say sorry to him for being scary first!"

She finished with a loud 'humph' and a rough wipe of her still teary eyes.

Sasuke was speechless and Natsuki looked deathly serious. Hot irritation flared in Sasuke stomach at the thought of what his daughter was asking of him.

"S-Say _'sorry'_? You think I should-"

Instead of Natsuki, Naruto cut in with a hand swinging forward to catch Sasuke's fingers. The little girl just looked stubborn. Sasuke flicked to Naruto who looked a bit sorry for Sasuke but amused at the same time. The blonde slid sideways on the tiles in his socks and pressed into Sasuke's side.

"If you play nice, Daddy will give you a kiss," he said with a grin. The Uchiha's heart skipped a beat and he cursed himself once for acting like a teenager. And then again when he was sure Naruto knew exactly what was going on in his head because the blonde snorted softly and thumbed over his fingers that grasped back tightly. Their daughter didn't seem to notice though as she bounced in Naruto's arm and made a delighted noise.

"Yeah, yeah! Kisses for Papa! As a present for doing what we say!"

"Reward," corrected Sasuke and then grumbled quietly to himself, pushing Naruto away with a half annoyed, half playful shove at where they were pressed together, fingertips digging into his free side through his obnoxious orange tee.

"Be nice," chirped Naruto as Sasuke headed out to the garden.

"Nice!" echoed Natsuki.

"Yeah, yeah," replied Sasuke.

Honestly, Sasuke had expected Natsuki's 'beloved' to be unaffected by whatever had happened. In his mind he'd seen the boy sitting unapologetically on the grass, playing by himself or something, but what met Sasuke as he slid open the ranch slider and stepped into the garden, wasn't that at all.

Ryo was sitting miserably at the table Naruto had set out for the two children earlier, turning a plastic teacup slowly in his small hands. His head was hanging low, eyes hidden away in his raggy mop of jet black hair, only the soft, sad curve of his mouth visible. When he heard Sasuke come walking slowly across the lawn, he looked up. Again, he didn't do what Sasuke expected. He would have thought this boy who found him 'scary' would skitter his eyes nervously, fidget with the cup in his lap. But he watched the man approach with steady, dark eyes, not unlike Sasuke's own. His little shoulders were slumped and he sighed heavily as Sasuke stood over him. His eyes returned to the teacup and the turning resumed.

"Hi, Sasuke san… Are you gonna tell me off for making Natsuki chan cry?"

"Er, well, uh, Ryo," started Sasuke, clearing his throat awkwardly. The boy looked so damn sorry already and Sasuke hadn't even said anything yet.

This was harder than he had expected.

"…What exactly did you say to her?" finished the father weakly and winced at his own sympathetic tone. Again the boy sighed and Sasuke pulled out one of the small chairs and sat down at the table, long legs spreading wide to accommodate to the low seat that Ryo sat so comfortably at.

'_I guess I can't yell at him, and Natsuki did say 'talk' to him. I'm not going to apologize though…'_

"She cried because she thinks I think Hana chan in our class is cute. But that's not what I said. I said the dress Hana chan was wearing yesterday was pretty cute. Natsuki chan said people talk about the weather and other people at tea parties so I was but… somehow…"

Another sigh.

"I don't like Hana chan. I like Natsuki chan. Lots. Hana chan's dress wasn't even that cute. Natsuki chan's sweatshirt today is much cuter but she said—" Shoulders rising. "—O-other p-people s-so…"

Sasuke drew a sharp breath as Ryo's eyes glossed and shone in the sunlight, bottom lip trembling. His fingers gripped tight to the plastic cup. The boy swallowed noisily and then lifted his face to Sasuke.

"Uguuu, Sasuke san… Natsuki chan is m-mad at me."

'_Shit, his crying face is terrible too.'_

Guilt settled uncomfortably in Sasuke's stomach as he remember wanting to tell Ryo off. It was all a misunderstanding. Poor Ryo had been trying to go along with Natsuki's tea party and had just said the wrong thing.

'_I… I guess I could forgive him this one time. It's not like he's actually done anything. Natsuki's just being silly.' _

"Wh-what should I do?" blubbered Ryo and Sasuke grit his teeth as the boy slipped off his seat and set one hand on Sasuke's knee, gripping at the coarse material of his jeans.

"S-Sasuke san, you and N-Naru san-"

'_Don't call him that!'_

"—are a good love, ne? Even though you're both boys, y-you're a g-good love. I like your love… H-how should I make that with Natsuki?"

Sasuke wanted to slam his head on the table.

This kid definitely wasn't scared of him. Sasuke didn't know what Natsuki was talking about! This kid _admired _him! He could see it in his damn eyes!

Sasuke grimaced, thoroughly turned off by the idea of having to _help _the kid he'd been trying to get rid of, but even so, reached into his back pocket producing a sparkly pink hair clip. It was the one he used to keep his hair off his face at home when it was hot or when cooking and was the same ridiculous kind that Naruto had always bought him to use during baseball in their highschool days claiming it 'totally suited Sasuke in the weirdest and most awesome ways'.

"Give her this when you tell her sorry and tell her you didn't mean Hana was cute. Just the dress. And then tell her you like her sweatshirt better than anything Hana wears. And that she's cute. And lovely. And the nicest girl you've ever met in your life," Sasuke advised tightly, flushing as he tagged the list of compliments on the end. He abruptly stood as soon as Ryo carefully took the clip from his outstretched fingers, avoiding the boy's giant, shiny eyes.

"Thank you, Sasuke san!" enthused Ryo, leaping to stand at Sasuke's side, wiping his nose and setting his features in a determined expression.

"I can do this. Let's go." Like apologizing for something so stupid was the most important thing he'd ever done.

"Hn."

Together, they took steps forward and Sasuke was horrified when the boy grasped his fingers for extra courage as they pulled the door open.

'_THIS BRAT!'_

When Ryo had left and Natsuki had finished packing up her tea set she bounded over to Sasuke who was watching TV on the couch.

"Neeeee, Papa! Lookie! Ryo gave me the same clip as you!" Her face was glowing with happiness, the misunderstanding with Ryo long forgotten. "We match! Let's wear them together, Papa!" Sasuke eyed his clip amongst Natsuki's fluffy curls.

'_That is my clip.'_ But even so he couldn't bring himself to ruin her gift.

Sasuke's mind ventured into his and Naruto's bedroom to the small dish of hairclips and ties, a few of Natsuki's ribbons. He was sure there was another identical pink clip in there somewhere…

"Let's wear them together later, okay, Sweetie?"

"Okayyyy" She sang back. Sasuke sighed and flicked across channels.

"You did good," came a voice from behind accompanied by warm hands dropping tenderly onto one shoulder and into his hair, combing his silky bangs back. Sasuke only hummed and then laughed quietly as Naruto leaned over the back of the couch and kissed him softly, all smirking lips and upside down face.


	23. Chapter 23

**Lovely #23**

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When Sasuke had come home one day, uncharacteristically bright smile plastered all over his gorgeous face and told Naruto _'I got a promotion!'_ and then _'hey, let's move house, let's get a bigger place!' _, the blonde had been ecstatic and easily agreed. He'd been so excited about house hunting with Sasuke, planning out where things might go on in various places they visited, pleased with the way he and Sasuke could stand together, talking, envisioning; all mature and adult-like . It was so very different to how their first house had been.

They'd kind of just thrown themselves into the first nice place they'd seen when the time had come for Natsuki to come home from the hospital and live together with her still young fathers. Although Naruto had been living in his apartment for longer than he could recall- used to paying rent and water and electricity, Sasuke had never really ventured outside his family's luxurious home until the year before he'd basically lived at Naruto's but still relied a lot on his parents for support and certainly extra money. He'd paid a share of Naruto's rent but a tiny apartment designed to house one was completely different to a full home.

It had been a big shock to the Uchiha who had anxiously taken on more hours at the company he'd started working at and refused to drop them for a long time, insisting that it would all be fine and that Naruto needn't worry.

It had been a good house, cozy for the three of them and nice and quiet and safe for their daughter as she grew up. It was near a park and not far from a good kindergarten that Natsuki had adored and flourished in. But they hadn't really handpicked it, which was why Naruto had been so excited about moving.

_Had. _

Right now, as he stood in the front door way, a sea of boxes and bags and suitcases before him- consuming the living room and then the kitchen, the blonde was thinking this might not have been such a good idea…

'_No, no, it's good, it's gonna be great! Look at the place! Two stories, big backyard, pretty balcony upstairs, a fireplace! It's way bigger than the last one. You're just tired and there's so much to unpack and Sasuke was up cleaning the old place like a madman until two in the morning and…'_

Naruto heavily set Natsuki's pink overnight bag down inside the door. She'd stayed the night with Kiba and Hinata while Sasuke and Naruto had finished up at the house. The couple was supposed to head over to stay at Sakura's place for the night but in the end Sasuke had taken so long to clean all the mold out of the grooves in the windows, they'd slept on the couch that had come with the house for the few hours before daybreak.

And now they were here and Naruto was just so _damn _tired.

'_Why do we have so much stuff…?' _

Judging by the happy, jumpity footfalls overhead, Natsuki was upstairs in her room and as Naruto wearily scanned the new house, his eyes found Sasuke in the kitchen, kneeling on the floor as he sorted which boxes were 'cupboard kitchen' boxes and which were 'drawer kitchen' boxes. His hair was clipped off his face and he was pulling distractedly at the front of his grey t shirt that was dark with perspiration as he shifted a box aside. He'd been helping the carriers carry in boxes but he didn't look nearly as tired as Naruto. In fact, though slick with sweat, the raven's skin was almost glowing. He looked concentrated but was even smiling a little. Naruto quirked half a smile at the sight and began wading through the living room boxes to the kitchen, blatantly ignoring that really, he should be starting to unpack too.

"Heya," he called as he reached the kitchen and Sasuke looked up at him, content face slowly shifting to concern as his deep, dark eyes surveyed Naruto's exhausted face and slumped shoulders. He stood, rising with an easy grace and Naruto lifted his chin to watch the other man come to stand slightly taller than himself.

"You look tired," said Sasuke, taking one of the blonde's wrists in his hand and holding it in a loose loop of his fingers. "You can sit down if you want, I can-" began Sasuke again but Naruto shook his head. He didn't want to be useless while Sasuke was working so hard, but then leaned into the other man, resting his body along Sasuke's even so.

"I'm alright, I'll do some," he replied softly and for a moment they just stood. Naruto, refusing to sit down and watch but still not making a move to start as he leant against Sasuke, the other wrapping slim, long arms around his waist and chuckling lowly.

"This isn't like you, aren't you always full of energy?"

"You were cleaning mold until the sun came up, Teme."

"Not quite that long."

"Close enough."

"What happened to the Uzumaki Naruto I used to know? The one who was still doing batting practice for hours after baseball finished? Weren't you always the one leading all our runs?" asked Sasuke, running hands up and down Naruto's back. The blonde grunted back, pressing his cheek more firmly into Sasuke's shoulder.

"Getting old maybe," mused the Uchiha. "You're like this and it's not even past lunch time, old man."

More grunting and another long moment of Sasuke's hands making soothing circles over Naruto's shoulder blades and fingertips working the knots out of tight muscles in his neck.

And then the doorbell rang and Natsuki came racing down the stairs, mimicking the annoying tune the door had made as she skipped to answer it. Sasuke straightened Naruto up and then went after Natsuki to the door. The blonde struggled to the floor and then began sorting utensils into 'top drawer' and 'second draw', vaguely listening to the exchange at the door.

The first thing he heard was a squeal of 'RYO!' and then a familiar voice saying, 'I made you some muffins for a welcome to your new house present! We live just down the road if you didn't know. I'm really happy that Natsuki chan and Naru san and Sasuke san will be living here!'. Naruto stopped sorting, biting back a guilty smile and didn't hear Sasuke say anything. He somehow didn't think that was because Natsuki and Ryo were burbling to each other about going to school together and dates everyday too loudly for the other man's voice to be heard either.

After a while, the little girl bid her beloved goodbye and the door clicked shut. There was a pleased yell of 'going upstairs, Papa! Don't eat all the muffins!' from Natsuki and Naruto heard Sasuke come walking through the boxes and watched his feet come into view. When the blonde looked up Sasuke was wearing the same smile Uchiha Mikoto had worn when Sasuke and Naruto had come home from school, nice white shirts covered in grass stains from a lunch time tussle. Her face had been scarily pleasant and her voice strangely calm as Naruto and Sasuke looked each other over, taking in the damage more seriously before being stripped off to their underwear right there in the kitchen and forced into the Uchiha's giant bath to scrub dirt from behind their ears while Mikoto angrily got to work on the dark green smudges.

"_How nice to be young, ne, boys?" _She'd said merrily. And as Sasuke stood over Naruto, creepy smile in place, his tone mirrored that of his mother's as he told his boyfriend:

"They live just down the road you know, Ryo and Shizune."

Naruto was grinning as he got to his feet. As much as Mikoto has scared Naruto back then, Sasuke couldn't scare him and the amusement at the other man's reaction was washing away his fatigue. He patted Sasuke the shoulder and then walked around to inspect the boxes piled on the kitchen bench.

"How nice for Natsu, ne."

"You knew where they lived when we looked at this place, didn't you?"

"I knew no such thing."

"Whatever."

Sasuke bit harshly into the top of one of Ryo's chocolate muffins, not bothering to take the wrapper off. Naruto picked one up himself and lent his hip against the bench, smiling more widely at Sasuke. The other narrowed his eyes and Naruto knew he was cursing the way Naruto's energy had returned with only the change of mood Ryo's visit had brought.

Like a little kid.

With energy, Naruto smiled that shit eating grin. With energy, Naruto teased. He knew what Sasuke would say.

'_That's so infuriatingly like you.' _

A quiet snicker slipped through Naruto's toothy smile at the thought.

"Okay, they can live nearby, but I'm not taking them to school together or anything," grumbled the raven, peeling off the muffin wrapper with picky fingers.

Naruto only laughed again.


	24. Chapter 24

_A/N: heads up! only four lovely chapters to go~_

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**Lovely #24**

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The house was very quiet and dark.

The dim lighting the young man could have done something about but, with the house still smelling of carpet cleaner and cardboard boxes… It was too new and he couldn't recall the light switches. So he sat on their yet-to-be-properly-placed sofa near the fireplace, facing the front door. With tired, heavy eyes, Naruto watched the rain stream thick and quick down the window, obscuring the outside world with blurry tracks. It was quiet. Natsuki was asleep, the TV had a long term missing power cord and a certain someone was missing. Away, on a business trip.

No sounds.

Somewhere in the house the hand of a clock moved slowly over midnight and into tomorrow. Naruto sighed heavily and picked at a loose thread on his ratty pajama pants before casting a jerky, stiff necked glance over his shoulder towards the staircase and then rounded back to the rain, pulling his knees up and resting his cheek atop them, closing his red rimmed blue eyes and feeling the burn of fatigue lessen slightly.

He'd had this problem before. For a long while, Sasuke had worked long into the night, often not coming home until 6am the next day or not coming back at all when work was heavy. And Naruto who, pathetically, could no longer sleep soundly without knowing whether Sasuke would be coming home or not, would stay up waiting, pacing, watching TV, eating and, eventually, walking out into the night for fresh air with his sleeping toddler bundled up in a blanket for comfort. He remembered once his inability to sleep has saved Natsuki's kindergarten teacher, Hyuuga Hinata's—ah, Inuzuka Hinata's, life. But at a time like this, years after Sasuke had stopped working nights; it was hard to recall anything beneficial about not sleeping like this. He could feel his insides twisting in exhausted anxiety.

Another look towards the staircase, another sigh before Naruto got unsteadily to his feet and padded across the carpet toward them. He felt unstable walking in the darkness through almost unfamiliar territory and gripped tight to the hand rail as he slowly ascended, wincing at the loud groan of one stair, until he reached the top.

The top floor of the new house held two bedrooms and a bathroom in between. One empty bedroom and one occupied. Naruto found himself pressing carefully against Natsuki's door and letting himself in without a sound.

Even in the gloom, the colourful and bright nature of the room was apparent. Though they hadn't lived here long, Natsuki already had drawings pinned up everywhere; from nondescript scribbles from her kindy days to more recent ones with big star stickers and Kurenai sensei praising the seven year old's 'talent' in careful cursive, all loopy and beautiful. And littered among Natsuki's own masterpieces, Naruto's eyes relearned the little notes he'd left in her lunchboxes, the pink sparkly hairclip that had once been from her Daddy to her Papa, regifted to her by Ryo, tacked onto the wall of treasures for safe keeping. All kinds of things that brought a sort of magic to the room.

Naruto slid his gaze from the walls to the bed in the corner as he took steps forward into the warm hush. Natsuki was sleeping on her side near the wall, snuggling the lobster toy Sasuke had made for her. Naruto felt a pang and wondered if she missed Sasuke too. She had happily entertained herself all day while Naruto sulked and cooked nothing but ramen for them, not even bothering to use the excuse of 'it's Ramen Saturday!' to slip the cheap meal by.

There was a _whoosh _of air racing from the mattress he sat lightly on the free edge of the small bed and reached out to the girl, fingers ghosting flyaway strands of soft hair from a smooth cheek.

"Naa, Natsuki… I—" When Naruto had begun to speak he hadn't expected her to stir, she looked so soundly asleep but as Naruto parted his lips to whisper to her, Natsuki's eyelashes butterflied and she shifted her little body beneath the sheets in waking. "Aah.. I'm sorry, Honey. Daddy didn't mean to wake you…" Naruto petted the girl's bed-messy hair, tucking it tenderly behind her ear as she rolled over to face him, eyes all deep and liquid-shiny in the dark, mouth soft and sleepy.

"Daddy… What doing?" she asked quietly even though there was no one else left in the house to wake. Naruto tried to smile but the muscles in his face didn't want to obey his tired brain and he wasn't sure what he managed. He hoped it was enough of an answer. Though he'd spoken first, he didn't really have the strength to talk much. Natsuki watched him closely with lidded yet alert eyes before wriggling one hand out from under the covers and taking Naruto's.

"Hmmm?" Naruto hummed to her but just Natsuki raised her eyes to the roof and allowed another pause. She breathed long and blinked at the ceiling.

"Raining…" she said after a while and Naruto nodded, stroking her hand in his with his thumb.

"Sure is, Bub."

"Ne, Daddy.."

"Yeah?"

Eyes, more awake and moony, now fell back to Naruto.

"I think it's raining because Papa misses you too… Like tears, ne? I'm sure he's as sad to be away from home as you are missing him…" Natsuki told him before closing her eyes again. Naruto felt something in his chest tighten and willed his useless, exhausted self not to cry. It wasn't even a big deal; Sasuke being away. But he was tired and lonely and with every move he made he could swear he felt his brain roll behind his eyes…

A tugging at his fingers.

"Natsu?" The girl's eyes were still closed but she shuffled over sideways a little.

"Sleep with me, Daddy.."

Naruto hesitated for a minute, taking in the small size of the bed and the single duvet but then smiled and shook his head. And as he crawled into bed, wrapping the girl in his arms and pressing lips to the back of her head, she whispered one more thing to him.

"The rain is already crying, Daddy, so don't you cry too, kay? Papa will be home soon."


	25. Chapter 25

**Lovely #25**

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Kiba was pretty damn sure he'd never seen a prettier girl in his life, and he'd certainly seen his fair share of attractive girls. She was so pretty he couldn't even move. It sounded stupid, and somewhere in the back of the mind he was aware that he should keep tying his shoe because stopping like this made him looks like he'd forgotten how to, but somehow, he just couldn't. Only his bright, sharp eyes moved; following her making her way along the walkway between school buildings. And he could swear he saw the season's cherry blossoms pick up from the path and float in her wake, catching in her long, deep blue hair that lifted up and down just so between her shoulder blades as she bag bumped evenly against her thighs as she carried it with both hands in front of her. As she turned her head slightly Kiba marveled at the unique lavender colour of her eyes.

He took a long deep breath through his nose and didn't stop staring even as he noted the light blue bow on her uniform. She was his sempai, same year as his two friends, Sasuke and Naruto, on the baseball team. The boy's mind scrolled through a million different things inside that moment as he watched her, from_ 'she's older than you, she's way out of your league!'_ to _'should I approach her later? What can I impress her with? "Hey, I'm the only junior on the baseball team, pretty cool, na."?_' and _'I wonder if Naruto sempai knows who she is…' _

All of a sudden, the girl, with her long sweeping hair, cute navy skirt and strange eyes—they were so very endearingly unusual, disappeared through a door and Kiba was left without deciding what he would do, holding his shoelaces stationary in his frozen hands.

'_Geez, she sure was beautiful…Real pretty…'_

"Oi! Kiba!"

The boy was snapped out of his trance with the loud call of his name from above and then—

"AH! WHAT THE FUCK, SEMPAI?! DON'T THROW YOUR DRINK BOTTLE AT ME, DAMMIT!" The plastic bottle skittered and clattered onto the concrete as it bounced off Kiba's head. The junior roared again as Naruto, leaning lazily out of the window of his senior English class two floors up, giggled devilishly and responded with:

"Well don't look so dazed then, sitting there pretending to tie your shoelaces. Whadaya slackin' off for? You're doing P.E., Idiot. It's piss easy for kids with no academic talent who only play sports!"

Kiba got to his feet, scooping up the bottle as he went and threw it back up at Naruto, but it didn't reach and just bounced back off the building.

"Look who's talking, Uzumaki!" Kiba called up at the blonde boy who replied with grin that matched Kiba's own, despite the harsh words being exchanged.

"That's 'Sempai', you brat!"

"Yeah, well-!"

"Oi, Naruto, pay attention." Kiba heard Uchiha Sasuke's voice from Naruto's window and then the raven was there, leaning over Naruto's next door desk to drag him back inside by his ear. As he did Sasuke raised a hand to Kiba in greeting and then shooed the junior as Naruto struggled next to him. He pushed the blonde down with a heavy shove to the top of his head to speak over him.

"You got a class, right?" The Uchiha called down softly, somehow raising his voice over Naruto's 'oiii!'s and 'Temeeee!'s without really lifting it at all. "This idiot's gotta pass this class so see you at lunch," he told Kiba and the junior nodded and saluted the other boy with a wolfish grin before turning to run over to his class.

"Oh-! Kiba!" Naruto broke free and leant back out the window. Kiba stopped to look back. "By the way, we raced in P.E. today but Teme, me and Shikamaru drew so you gotta go get lunch today, since, ya know, you lost."

"What! I wasn't even there to race!"

Now both Sasuke and Naruto were leaning out the window, looking down on the boy in the courtyard, all smarmy smirks and too-wide grins. Sasuke's hand still rested in Naruto's hair from the previous struggle, now a comfortable and almost fond sort of gesture.

"Not our problem~"

"Ehhhh..." Kiba slumped his shoulders in exasperated defeat before flipping the two seniors off (making Naruto roar with laughter) and starting back to his class, grumbling about lack of money and Naruto eating like a horse. The only good thing was that behind and above him he could hear both Naruto _and_ Sasuke being told off for disrupting the class.


	26. Chapter 26

**Lovely #26**

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There's no time for an umbrella. No time to think about properly putting on socks and shoes so he'd only shoved his feet into his sneakers. The ones with holes along the front that Naruto swore up and down he would repair but Sasuke will probably just go out to buy new ones anyway for optimal play time with Natsuki.

Although, there was no other thought in his mind at that time except for the need to go, faster, run, harder, get there, help—all building up in his mind and Sasuke really did have to grit his teeth against the harsh wind and rain pouring down outside the school. The water was sloshing around and down the street and there were very few people wandering around outside, attempting to collect and bring in their belongings so they didn't get swept away. Granted, while he and Naruto had been watching the news and keeping an eye on the storm that had been brewing all morning, neither could be too worried since the reports said their part of town wouldn't get over a foot of water.

And wouldn't that be something else? A month after they get a brand spanking new house, they get flooded! Preposterous!

But there were bigger worries churning in Sasuke's mind, especially since Naruto had called the school to see if everyone was okay and both of them only had to hear that Kurenai sensei was the only one on duty that day for the boys to go into action. Sasuke wanted them both to go over to check, but Naruto surprisingly had a more level head in the situation. Sasuke was to go over first and check on the kids, making sure to call Naruto if they really need anything.

And while Sasuke was wandering through the sloshing water into the front of the school and trying to keep the door closed properly, Naruto was cleaning up at home, some sort of foreboding that they might have more bodies than normal to bring home.

He loathed that his pants were getting completely soaked, but he only had to wander down the first hallway to hear it—a little sniffling sound and Sasuke nearly stuttered in his tracks, working his way around the next corner to find—

"Ryo?"

"S-Sasuke-san!"

"Wait, what are you doing out here? And where are the others?" And it didn't even matter how much he didn't like the brat; when Ryo tried to keep himself from reaching out, Sasuke instantly scooped the little boy up and out of the water. "Ah, you're soaked…"

"They're in the classroom. I, ah… I went to get Kurenai-Sensei her phone because I heard pregnant people can't move around that well."

Sasuke nearly rolled his eyes, knowing Kurenai was probably half out of her mind, pregnant or not, with one of her students missing in action.

"Well, you shouldn't worry her like that."

"I was just trying to be helpful," the little boy muttered, chin still held high even as his eyes glistened slightly with unshed tears and instead Sasuke sighed and headed back the way he came towards the classroom.

"…Are you scared?"

"N-no."

Sasuke really DID roll his eyes that time, the stutter in the little boy's voice giving him away completely and so he hiked him up higher on his waist, pulling out his phone when an idea crossed his mind. "Well, sometimes the scariest things make a man stronger, and you want to be a big, strong man, ne?"

The speed at which Ryo's head whipped up to stare at Sasuke was faster than a cheetah, he's sure of it, and Sasuke almost dreaded the fact that he put those sparkles back into Ryo's eyes. But then the runt was piping up with a, "Of course!"

Nodding, Sasuke stopped outside of the classroom where the rest of the children and their teacher were; he could hear voices and knocks against the glass before wriggling the door handle.

"Kurenai-Sensei? Are you guys all right in there?"

Little voices piped up then and one stood out clearer than the rest as a squeal of, "Papa!" rang down the hall and a little grin spread across Sasuke's face before he nudged closer to hear what Kurenai was telling him. Ah, the door is jammed.

"Hold on, I'll be right back." With that, he turned and deposited Ryo on the table just a little ways away, the boy instantly sitting up on his knees.

"What can I do, Sasuke-san?"

He regarded the boy a moment before pulling out his phone, this being neither the time or place for immaturity, and handed it to Ryo. "Naru-san is on speed dial 1. Call him and let him know we're bringing everyone back to our house. Can you do that, Ryo?"

And another cheetah quick nod, Sasuke turned and, spotting the fire extinguisher post earlier, went down to break it quickly from the glass. He took a strong hold on the cool metal, colder where water touched, and went back to the door. Commanding quickly, "Stay away from the door for a moment." He waited for them to step back before lifting the extinguisher above his head and slamming it down on the doorknob. It only took a few hits, Ryo's voice a surprisingly soothing lilt in the background as he relayed the message to Naruto perfectly, and the doorknob gave way, allowing Sasuke to shoulder into the room to…

"Children." He shot a deadpan state around the room, about ten little kids huddling atop their desks that had been smooshed together and Kurenai standing right next to them.

The relief on her face was palpable, Sasuke meeting her halfway across the room as she rounded the door and, though he couldn't see it, either hugged or throttled Ryo for running off. Didn't matter though since Sasuke instantly zoned in on his daughter looking like she's about to jump across the water to him. He put up a placating hand, quickly going to the desk and lifting her off. She pulled back from his face to look into his eyes, her own pretty orbs still sparkling and bright though most normal children would be freaked out. Nevertheless, Natsuki just threw up her hands with an excited, "It's raining!" and Sasuke couldn't do much more than let a little smile grace his face.

Pulling her to him again, he muttered, "I can see that, but it's far too cold to stay here so were going home where it's warm." Turning back to Kurenai now, Ryo in her own arms, he mentally checked her over. It was true that as a pregnant woman, she shouldn't be stressed, but she looked fine enough and so they began figuring out how to get the kids to Sasuke's place.

"We have floaties? Maybe an inner tube. It might be uncomfortable, but it would work, just in case."

He nodded, that being a good idea and they went about blowing up and distributing the arm floaties once they were brought out of a side closet. Going back to get another, Sasuke turned around, suddenly feeling a little more relieved as he pulled out a large blue and yellow rubber raft. "This will work even better!"

And it seemed that it only took a few moments from there to pile all the kids, completely floatied, into the little life raft, covering them in a few blankets as Sasuke and Kurenai Sensei pushed them out into the hallway and down towards the entrance to the school.

Luckily for their little bunch, the rain had let up, although the water level had now raised far past the lying news report and Sasuke's lips pursed as he turned back to Kurenai. She… looked mildly ridiculous with that large inner tube around her lower waist but, ah, pregnant. He really didn't want something happening to her—to ANY of them really, and so asked, "Will you be okay pushing?"

And it was with a small smirk of her own and a huffed laugh that she patted her enlarged stomach consolingly. "What kind of teacher do you think I am? I have to deal with, ah, 'little disasters' daily."

An eruption of 'Awww, Kurenai Sensei!' and 'That's not nice!' wafted through the room, the kids seeming like they were having fun now that they were with another grown up than the scared way they had been huddling on their desks from a little water.

It was about a half hour later that they finally FINALLY were able to push in through Sasuke's front door, Naruto coming down to meet him as they, quite literally, handed off children before Sasuke was helping Kurenai through the door with a hand and up the stairs. Naruto was already on top of everything, he noticed coming to the second floor. There were blankets spread all around Natsuki's room as well as their own room and the bathroom, little pillows for little children to squish their faces into as Naruto grabbed whatever clothing would fit them and, with Kurenai-Sensei's help, had the children change into clean, warm and, most importantly, dry clothing. Sasuke himself went directly to their room, grabbing a large set of his work out clothing and, returning to the others, offered for Kurenai Sensei to change into them, an offer she took graciously and left for the bathroom.

"Oi, teme, you need to change too. You're soaking my floor!" It was paired with insistent hands shoving Sasuke back out onto the banister and down the small hallway to their room where he was given his own clothing to change into. "You need to get warm too with how long you took."

"You weren't the one dragging a dozen kids down the river—oh, I mean our street."

"There's only ten of them!"

"And a pregnant woman!"

"She doesn't count if she was pushing too!"

And that was when Sasuke did something he would never, ever own up to even when he was dead and simply… stuck his tongue out at Naruto before pushing past him.

"W-where are you going?" he heard from behind him, his blond lover sounding a bit flabbergast with how childishly he'd responded but he'd spent the afternoon with 8 years olds and that was a perfectly acceptable reason in his mind.

"Gotta get them something to eat while there's still time, right?" He called over his shoulder, rummaging down in their pantry for snacks and other food items requiring no cooking. For the next hour or so, Naruto and he continued to build up their little fortresses on the second floor, children already dropping one by one into sleep with such a nerve wracking day. Luckily, both he and Naruto were able to salvage their phones and, with a little persuading with Fruit Roll Up's, had all the children call their parents to let them know they are safe.

A little while later, Sasuke's closed the door to Natsuki's room with a soft snick, feet padding as he wandered back over to he and Naruto's room, watching as the other helped Kurenai into their bed since she needed the most rest out of all of them. Sasuke leaned against the door jamb, arms crossed while his lover turned the light off before making sure the window to the balcony was all locked.

"Everyone out?" Sasuke asked as Naruto joined him just outside on the hallway to which the blond head bobbed in a nod.

"Poor Kurenai Sensei should have gone on maternity leave a week early. Heh." He laughed softly and Sasuke threaded the fingers of their hands together, smiling something soft now that the need to rush, go, faster, help is over. They were both in clean, warm clothing, the children all safe and sound and even the thought of Ryo snuggling up to Natuski protectively didn't bother him. He still took a deep breath, not knowing if he'd be able to sleep and pulled a little on their conjoined hands to look over the banister at the water logged first floor. The damage probably wasn't too bad with their house already being on a raised foundation, but they might have to replace the wooden flooring. Clicking his tongue on the top of his mouth, he pulled his free arm up to wrap around Naruto's neck and bring his lover into a hug. 'I'm glad they're safe,' is what he was saying without really saying the sentiment, but he knew Naruto heard it loud and clear with the tight squeeze to his waist.

And then a moment later, the soft sound of water plopping around, Naruto asked into his neck, "Where are we going to sleep?"

Whoops.


	27. Chapter 27

_A/N: next week will be the last chapter of The Lovely Tales Collection, lovelies :)_

_Also, btw, this chapter is **NSFW**_

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**Lovely #27**

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Naruto had to grasp quickly at the thin railing of his apartment building when he almost tripped taking the steps two at a time. Sasuke was in hot pursuit, an uncharacteristic laugh tumbling from his mouth at the uninhibited shock that flashed across the blond's face.

"Ah, what a loser, tripping over yourself. You've only lived here—what? – the better part of high school and your foot _still_ catches on that one step?" The thin sliver of a smirk peeked out from behind the black bangs clinging to his face in the heat.

He passed Naruto up, yanking the blond by the arm as he wiped the back of his neck with the other, the tag on his baseball uniform scratching lightly at his skin. He shivered at the one dabble of sweat that crawled down his spine, but shook it off as Naruto took to wrapping his arm around Sasuke's shoulder.

He leaned forward conspiratorially, eyes narrowing in mock accusation.

"Oi, oi! Who was the '_loser'_ who pitched out that Kojima guy, ne? He was ranked No. 1 in the entire league and I took him down! Believe it!" He pumped his fist dramatically and the other rolled his eyes, saving Naruto's bag from dropping clear off his arm as he shoved Naruto into his door jamb with an _oomph_!

"I ain't talking about your arms, idiot; it's your legs that don't work." He nudged his chin in the direction of Naruto's left as his smirk grew.

Instead of responding with a pout or anger, Naruto simply relaxed back against the door and waggled his eyebrows at the other. "Well, we'll just have to find out what other parts of me work now, wont we?"

Naruto nearly did cheer out loud as Sasuke's mouth quickly formed a little 'o' and his eyebrows shot into his hairline in obvious surprise, the interest shining through in the way a low blush settled over his cheeks and the dark-haired boy pushed his body further along the length of the others. Leaning in, Sasuke's eyes lowered, flicking to Naruto's plump lips and back up to his eyes, Eskimo kissing the blond for a moment with the tip of his nose.

"Finally, the idiot comes up with a good plan."

Naruto's laughter was cut short as Sasuke twisted the handle of the door to the left of Naruto's hand and the blond stumbled backwards into his apartment, hands reaching out to pull the raven along with him. When Sasuke had been able to hijack his house keys from his shoulder bag, he didn't know nor did he care as the righted himself, looking only slightly miffed.

All he knew was he liked the slightly apprehensive gleam that grew in the raven's eyes as he pushed Sasuke back into the door, slamming it shut with their flushed bodies and hands gripped to each other tight. It was causing the coils in the pit of his stomach to whir to life.

Naruto began peppering light kisses across Sasuke's thin lips, inhibitions nil in the safety of his own apartment, away from prying eyes and the snooty reservations of the world.

Just the two of them.

The other responded with a sigh as more of those kisses traveled across his jaw and down the length of his neck, and, shivering, the blond pulling down the edge of Sasuke's baseball tee with his thumb to lick at the juncture of his clavicle. His skin was salty and warm on Naruto's tongue, tinged with a slight tang,and the blond felt a low mumble of a moan build inside him. The shiver that ran down Sasuke's back that time had nothing to do with sweat, and he wiggled a little until he and Naruto's bags dropped off of his shoulder to the floor below before pulling Naruto even closer with the hem of the blond's own tee.

"Mm… you taste like sweat," the blond mumbled into Sasuke's hair as he felt those fingers travel lightly up his sides, leaving taut goosebumps in their wake.

Sasuke snorted into blond hair.

"I hope it isn't the smell that's turning you on, or else I'll have to forbid you from the locker room after practice." He laced his fingers into the other's hair and pulled Naruto's lips back up to his, smacking them together before playfully running his tongue along the blond's lower lip. Shifting back slightly, Sasuke felt his ego swell at the hazy look that darkened the blond's baby blue irises, turning them nearly purple with the last light of the evening streaming in from behind his, admittedly orange, blinds.

"Mm, no," Naruto leaned forward again to nibble lightly at Sasuke's lips, nosing his cheek with affection. "It's just Sasuke sweat that I like."

Sasuke huffed out a light laugh before tugging at the hem of the blond's shirt again, motioning for him to raise his arms.

"I smell like dirt."

"I prefer the term 'fresh spring grass', but to each their own."

"Cheeky."

Naruto smiled at the sincere happiness he could hear in Sasuke's voice, a lilting sound that made something warm and whole bloom in his chest and it only took him a moment to wrap both arms around Sasuke's lean neck.

"Maa, so are we going to take this to the bedroom or what?" He'd meant it to be snarky, but the heated way Sasuke eyed him had the blond's heart beat racing.

Sasuke smirked down at him in response and pinched softly at the meat of Naruto's hips, laughing breathily at the small gasp he elicited as he responded, "I thought you'd never ask."

With a sharp pull and a twist, Sasuke had flipped their positions, pulling Naruto as he maneuvered backwards through the dark apartment, hips swaying back and forth and very near hypnotizing his boyfriend. His hands once again moved to the blond's own hips and tugged, grumbling under his breath.

"Oi, I thought I said to take this off." His fingers pulled persistently at Naruto's shirt as he tried not to stumble into the walls or door jamb.

"Hmm? And when have I ever listened to you?" Naruto teased, once again leaning forward to capture Sausuke's lips in an ever increasing battle of teeth and tongues, dragging his nails down and around the back of Sasuke's head and absolutely relishing in the groan that travelled up through his lips while he felt Sasuke's arms abandon the tee to wrap around his lower back once again. The raven's hips came forward to shyly grind against Naruto's and he gasped in response.

Sasuke merely stopped them short of the bedroom door and slowly dug both hands into the back pockets of Naruto's uniform, palms instantly pulling the blond into him while squeezing roughly at the taut flesh of his ass. Naruto's groan matched Sasuke's as they stood making out just on the threshold, small whimpers escaping as they each reacquainted themselves with sensitive spots on each other's body. Slow and soft, their hands traveled and caressed through the thin layer of fabric.

"Mmm, feels good," Naruto mumbled as Sasuke pulled back for air right before diving back in to nip at the blond's earlobe, teeth nipping around the edge. "Ngh! Almost—_ha_—too good…"

Sasuke hummed in response, nudging both of his shoes off and feeling Naruto do the same as his hands finally gripped the blond's uniform and peeled it up and over his head, the other automatically lifting his arms in aid before Sasuke's fingers came back down to relish in caramel skin.

"Mhm, and it only gets better," he responded lowly, staring through lidded eyes at the way Naruto's brows scrunched up in pleasure when the raven's fingers dug into his back, kneading at stiff muscles from their baseball game. "Let me loosen you up, ne?"

Naruto snorted slightly even as he arched into the touch of deceptively soft fingertips. "Heh. You are _so_ cheesy."

"But it's working," was Sasuke's response as he felt Naruto's own fingers trail along the edge of his shirt before working it up and over his own head. "Right?" The ghost of a smile was hesitant on his face even as Naruto's own lips stretched up and out into a wide grin.

And then they were chest to chest, arms wrapped around each other with foreheads aligned. Naruto shivered from the way Sasuke trailed his long digits along the ridges in his spine, gaze never wavering from Sasuke's own. His tongue reached out to wet his lips and felt the hot flush spread across his cheeks when his boyfriend's eyes instantly refocused on his lips. It was so hot, so goddamn hot in the places they touched.

"Right…" was his answer as they simply stood holding each other, a heady sort of calm before the proverbial storm entrapped the boys in warmth and passion.

Naruto felt his heartbeat quicken the longer Sasuke's eyes focused on him, feeling a little anxious as he licked at his lips again while the other undressed him with his eyes.

"Y... you know what today is, right?" He asked quietly, feeling his skin ignite wherever Sasuke touched, fire singing his skin to ash. The air became more stifling as Sasuke once again began leading him, sauntering backwards through the doorway and into Naruto's room, humming his answer.

"I do."

The smile on Sasuke's face was only a little cautious as he made his way backwards towards the bed, stopping when his calves came in contact with the fluffy comforter thrown haphazardly over the side. The raven's own breathing was heavy and hot and his pulse pounded in his ears.

Naruto took in another deep breath, before pulling his fingers from the middle of Sasuke's back and trailing them down the sharp hipbones, rubbing lightly over the skin there. Those same fingers came to rest along the hemline of Sasuke's uniform pants, the tips on his pointer fingers digging beneath the seam in what he hoped was a seductive manner as he felt the other's skin twitch beneath his clammy palms.

"And you know what that means... right?"

They'd agreed on today. A promise of "_if we win..._".

Naruto half expected the other to roll his eyes at the way he was suddenly putting their entire agreement off, the apprehension of what they were about to do finally seeming to dawn on him and cause his anxiety to go haywire.

Sasuke covered Naruto's hands with his own, fingers wrapping in and around, and Naruto blinked his baby blues up at the other.

"Do you not want to?" Sasuke asked lowly, his voice and face a calm sort of blank to not give his feelings away and Naruto almost scowled as that practiced mask slipped easily back into place.

"It's not that!" A little louder than intended, he internally chastised himself when Sasuke's eyebrow twitched up along with his lip, amusement dancing in dark eyes as Naruto _tsk_'ed and looked off towards the corner of Sasuke's shoulder, eyeing the bare, pale skin. "It's not like I don't want to, or anything. I just- I don't... What I mean is- argggghhh." Frustration welling up, Naruto heaved a sigh before a slight pout settled onto his lips. "I feel so weird, not knowing what the hell I'm doing."

At that, Sasuke left out a short laugh, intertwining his fingers with Naruto's, the small squeeze grounding the blond's nerves. "Naruto," he murmured and the other met his eyes. "It's not like I've done this before either, you know."

Lips pulled tight and trying not to give away his internal elation at those words, Naruto squeezed back. "Yeah, I know..."

"...But I did look some stuff up and what we're going to need-" Sasuke suddenly cut off, a sharp flush cutting its way across his cheeks as he looked off to the side, and Naruto's interest was suddenly caught in the quick change. "Ah, you know, wait here a sec- It's in my bag."

"Ah... okay?"

And with that, Sasuke had pecked Naruto's cheek and swiftly exited the room, leaving Naruto feeling a bit colder and more helpless that he'd ever felt. He huffed and crossed his arms, glaring balefully down at his crotch where he could just make out the outline of his growing erection. "Yeah, lotta help you are," he mumbled and turned slightly when he heard the other softly pad back down the hall.

Sasuke came back into the room, flashing a half smile up at the blond before turning to close and lock the door. Never mind the fact that Naruto lived alone; Sasuke wanted as much privacy as he could afford. That same flush was still pasted attractively across his cheeks and Naruto suddenly wanted nothing more than to make that red darken in heavy lust.

He bit gently into his lip.

He'd seen it before; it wasn't like they hadn't fooled around at Naruto's apartment or when Sasuke's parents were out to dinner... or underneath the bleachers after a day of practice... or just outside the locker room... The thin shine that would alight the raven's eyes in the haze of pleasuring each other, the tomato-red stain that stayed glued to his cheeks when Naruto's fingers would stroke his arousal just right, _everything_ about Sasuke's allure had Naruto wanting more.

It had taken a while for him to be comfortable with all of the intimacy of a homosexual relationship- of _any_ sort of relationship, with doing the 'going out' thing and all that came with it with Sasuke. And even though this was a big step for both boys in their intimate relationship, even though Naruto was jittery from head to toe with nerves, he had finally come to accept that this is what he really, _really _wanted.

"Heh, looks like you don't need much prompting then," Sasuke spoke lightly as he stared unabashedly down at the blond's crotch, dropping the items he'd retrieved onto the corner of the bed before sitting down on the edge himself. One of his hands had come forward to pull at the hem of Naruto's pants, the blond shuffling in between Sasuke's spread legs and leaning down to kiss that same tempting blush, his hands coming to rest along the top of the raven's shoulders.

His grin betrayed his nervousness. "Well, I _am_ a healthy, young man, after all." He could feel Sasuke's fingers working on his pants, the zipper sounding incredibly loud in the din of his room, so instead he just scrunched his eyebrows and kissed Sasuke again.

He breathed out a sigh into Sasuke's mouth when pale hands drew his uniform pants down his thighs, fingers hooking in and pulling his boxers down along with them. It was with a short gasp that Naruto's erection sprang out from its confines and Sasuke hummed lightly in response. Sasuke leaned his head down further to press kisses along Naruto's abdomen, feeling a sense of accomplishment at each little _ooh_ and _ah_ that escaped the blond's mouth, feeling the tense muscles loosen up as he worshipped. Slow and soft for now.

He knew Naruto was nervous- hell, _he_ had never been this nervous in his entire life- but since this was their first time making love, he was determined to make it as pleasurable and painless as possible. And that meant making absolutely sure that Naruto was enjoying himself at all times.

With one hand, he helped pull one of Naruto's pant legs down and off and then the other before trailing his fingers back up along the outside of strong thighs, feeling the blond's fingers dig into his shoulders slightly as he brought his digits up and around to the space where groin and thigh met. He couldn't help but admire Naruto's lean figure, skin smooth and light blond hairs dusting along his limbs and down a small trail below his belly button.

He paused a moment, leaning his head back to peer up at the blond, feeling himself shiver with want at the pure look of lust clouding Naruto's eyes. He reached up and tangled his fingers in Naruto's hair, bringing the blond's lips back to him in tandem with his other hand moving in to grip at Naruto's pulsing erection, swallowing the short, surprised moan with his own.

Naruto was hot and heavy in his hand, sleek against his skin as he stroked up and down. His fingers gripped a little tighter and he trailed a thumb along the underside of Naruto's cock, smirking up into the increasingly heated kiss when Naruto unintentionally bucked into his hand, the blond's tongue sneaking out to plunder his mouth.

Pulling back, he continued to stroke as he breathed against Naruto's lips, "Feels good, ne?"

Sasuke faltered for a moment when Naruto growled lowly before he grinned down at him, suddenly pushing Sasuke further back onto the bed before he climbed up and straddled the raven's middle. With a snarky wink, Naruto leaned down to kiss behind Sasuke's ear before throwing the other's words back at him, "Mhm~ And it only gets better."

The blond decided he liked making Sasuke laugh in the middle of this intimacy, as if he hadn't a care in the world outside the four walls surrounding them as they went back to ridding each other of their clothing, bare skin sliding against bare skin while they flipped over and over on the large bedspread.

It took a few minutes, but Naruto made a triumphant sound in the back of his throat when he'd finally pinned Sasuke down by his hands and knees, breathing slightly labored from their play as he licked and suckled at the raven's chest. Each hitch in breath had Naruto pulsing, wanting to become even closer to the raven, fusing them together in steam and skin. He shuffled down slightly, shoving slightly with his elbows until he had maneuvered himself in between pale legs and stared down at Sasuke's body. Throughout all their times of beating each other off, Naruto hadn't actually taken the time to really _look _at Sasuke, but now he wanted to savor it. That blush that constantly attracted his gaze did not stay confined to the raven's face but extended down his neck and over his chest. His nipples stood erect as Naruto's breath wafted over them, leaning down to lick at one and humming when Sasuke let out a slightly pathetic sound. He spent a moment wandering over to the other, fingers rolling the small bud between them as his lips burned a hot trail down Sasuke's middle, his tongue coming out to dip into a pale belly button. The touch made Sasuke jump and Naruto leaned down again and again to swipe his tongue across his abdomen, not pulling back until he was satisfied with the breathy quality to Sasuke's chuckles.

"What? You really- haahh- like my sweat that much?" Sasuke teased through a half-lidded gaze as he leaned up on his elbows.

Naruto made a show of smacking his lips.

"Mmm, delicious~"

Sasuke laughed again, his head falling back against the orange duvet, the lilting sound music to Naruto's ears and just the moment of broken concentration Sasuke needed to twine a leg around Naruto's own and flip their bodies over so he had the blond successfully pinned below him.

Smirking lowly, his hands marked that same scorching trail down the blond's waist as Sasuke's finally brought their burning arousals together, both boys hissing in a sharp breath at the touch. A slow pace began building, Naruto thrusting his hips up as Sasuke rolled his hips down, each boy searching for the most comfortable position to gain pleasure and give pleasure in return. The raven's lips leaned down to trail along Naruto's throat, nipping and pulling at the skin while Naruto writhed underneath.

The blond's hands, in turn, gripped tightly to Sasuke's hips, guiding them in their rutting before one hand reached down to squeeze curiously at the pale globe below.

Sasuke immediately reeled back and let out a decidedly embarrassing keen while Naruto jerked and then blinked up at him through the haze of arousal. Instead of being put off by the noise, he swallowed back his reservations and repeated what he'd done, fingers massaging the firm flesh of the other's backside while Naruto drank in the sight again.

Naruto liked that look- that _sound_ that he hadn't heard Sasuke make before, and was now solely focused on bringing his voice out more.

"Ngh, _yes_... just like that..."

"S-Sasuke," he breathed and shivered lightly, needing no other reason to say his lover's name other than that he wanted to. So he murmured in again and again and again, each time Sasuke let out soft noises of approval and appreciation into the space between them. The heat continued to grow, dicks now slick with precum and heat as they rubbed together between their bodies.

Naruto licked his lips when he moved both palms down and inwards, rolling the flesh apart slowly so he could run a finger lightly down the crease and rub against the small entrance there-

"Whoa- wait-" Sasuke's voice cut through the cloud of lust around them as one of the raven's hands, shaking lightly, came back to grab Naruto's wandering hand in a vice like grip. He took a moment to catch his breath before questioning, "What exactly do you think you're doing?"

Naruto blinked up slightly into Sasuke's wary gaze before his mouth fell open and closed up again, gaping slightly.

"I... thought ya wanted to do it, right...?"

Sasuke watched the confusion settling on his face, brows pulled together and lips drooping slightly. The raven licked his lips and took a steady breath, releasing his grip on Naruto's wrist and leaning down to cage the blond's head in with his forearms.

He leaned forward to kiss at the other's lips, just whispered touches compared to the way the rest of them were pressed flush together.

"Don't misunderstand, Naruto. I do... but I want to be the one to do it first." Pulling back slightly, he watched the hazy look transform slowly into firm understand before an understandable form of embarrassment settled in. The blond turned his head to the side and Sasuke took the chance to run his lips along the length of Naruto's jaw, the shiver passing from caramel skin to his own. "I've been wanting this for so long... I just-"

He was cut short as strong arms wrapped around his shoulders, pulling them chest to chest and bending Sasuke's body at an awkward angle, but he felt his heartbeat jump when he felt Naruto swallow and slowly spread his legs at the knees. Shifting them so his calves twined around Sasuke's own, the blond turned to nuzzle his nose into the side of his lover's face.

"I get it, bastard. You don't have ta go yelling it out and all, yeesh." He could feel the miffed expression in the way Naruto's lips twitched against his jawbone and Sasuke couldn't help but shift his head and connect their lips once again. But unlike the last time, these kisses were bold and forthcoming, demanding entrance to the sweet inside of the other's mouth- to taste and to take.

He shuddered a breath when Naruto's legs slipped open wide enough for one of Sasuke's hands to travel down and stroke him, long and slow before marking a hot path down to caress his sac, feeling everything in him tighten at the breathy way Naruto called his name with want.

The raven nipped and bit at the front of Naruto's chest, dragging his tongue down the center of his body only to center over Naruto's hot, hard length. He blew lightly across the tip, eyes lidding behind thick lashes and blush spreading up to his ears when his boyfriend involuntarily bucked up against his cheek, a small keening noise breaking the hold on him.

With one hand reaching for the small bottle off on the side of the bed, Sasuke spread his lips around the soft head of Naruto's erection, flicking his tongue back and forth to wet the sides as he slowly began sliding his head up and down.

"Unh.. O-oh _god_..." Naruto's voice drowned out into a long low moan as Sasuke continued to move in a smooth, steady rhythm, dark eyes watching as Naruto's head tipped back against the bed and his mouth dropped open. "_Ngh_\- Sasuke..."

The raven pulled off with a pop, his one hand pumping the thick flesh while his other slid slicked finger down over the edge of Naruto's balls.

"Feel good?" he questioned lowly, Naruto responding with a furious nod of the head and Sasuke pressed out a breath of soft laughter against his length as those same fingers travelled lower and back to the small, taut entrance there. He felt his lover tense for a moment before shifting his hips into a more comfortable position as Sasuke continued to pump at his length. First with one finger making small circles around the outside before he felt the blond had relaxed enough to press slowly inside, bringing his mouth back to Naruto's erection at the same time.

The shaky grunts were enough to tell him of Naruto's discomfort, but Sasuke couldn't be pushed away as the smooth inside of Naruto's ass seemed to pull greedily at his finger, and he begun a rhythm of in-and-out, in-and-out until the other was no longer jerking his hips in pain. Instead, he waited til Naruto's hips began moving on their own, rocking into his hand even as he began pushing in a second finger, and then the third.

He would wait. He would patiently work at Naruto's insides, pushing off the throes of his own arousal at Naruto's half whimpers and groans of his name as he stretched his fingers around and spread the slick hole to accommodate something larger- to make Naruto _his_.

And he'd realized he'd muttered it out loud along the crease of Naruto's groin when the blond's leg hairs all stood on end and he felt long fingers come down to stop the motion of his wrist.

Sasuke looked up into hazy baby blues, so clear and fresh and then he was being pulled up by Naruto's hands, honey-glazed arms enveloping his neck as Sasuke quickly maneuvered a pillow beneath his boyfriend's hips.

One of his hands pulled Naruto's thigh up against his abdomen while the other came down to position his length at Naruto's stretched entrance. Pressing the head of his dick against it, Sasuke looked up quickly to the blond's face, gaining the affirmation he needed in the way Naruto's neck was stretched back bare to him, soft pants falling from plump, pink lips, and Naruto's eyes- _Jesus_, his eyes!

That was all it took for Sasuke to push and pull himself into that velvet heat, the synapses in his brain practically exploding with the way Naruto's body took him in. He wanted to stay still once he was pressed fully inside- he really did- but his eyes were locked on Naruto's flustered expressions as he adjusted to Sasuke's size and how the lithe body underneath him was so, so strong and yet so, so soft to the touch and the precum was dripping off the tip of Naruto's dick onto his quivering stomach-

It was almost too much to handle.

Instead, Sasuke slowly gave in, foregoing his iron clad control with each thrust bringing less pained sounds and more little _oh_s! and _ah_s! from Naruto's cherry lips.

It was surprisingly quiet in the dimmed room, only the sharp _slap, slap, slap_ of wet flesh reverberated off the walls as Sasuke buried his face in Naruto's shoulder, latching onto the dark skin with his teeth and tongue and being rewarded with those small mewls of delight in return. It made a tingle run down his spine. But with every push and pull, it seemed like all of his senses were driven closer and closer to the edge of that pleasureful oblivion, Naruto's ass clenching down with each thrust and Sasuke leaned back slightly only to hook his arms under Naruto's knees and fold the other further onto himself.

It was only with this small change that Sasuke watched the blond's eyes snap open and his entire body practically _spasm_ at his next thrust, Naruto practically screeching into the heady air.

The raven faltered in his movements, automatically afraid of having hurt his lover, but just as quickly, Naruto's fingers reached up to dig into his hair, pushing black bangs from his face before drawing Sasuke's lips down to his own and whispering a soft, "_Again,_' against them.

And that was is; Sasuke was done for.

He instantly began thrusting with renewed vigor, pressing open lipped kisses upon Naruto's face while the body under his shook and quivered. The blond's lips parted willingly beneath his ministrations along with his legs and Sasuke was sure the grip he had on Naruto's hips would leave a bruise but all he could feel was the slick body pulling his in, all he could see, smell, taste, hear- all Naruto.

Drowning in Naruto's essence as they made love in the lowlight of the evening.

'_So hot._'

"Ah! S-Sasuk- aaah!"

'_Yes, call my name, Naru-_'

"S-so.. _ngh_\- so close. 'Ahm so close, S'uke-"

'_Me too, Naruto. I love you- F-feels so-_'

"Yes. Yes, yes, ye- S- AH! _Sasuke!_"

And that was it: Naruto's knees drawn up to his chest as his cock twitched and came in long, white spurts, painting a creamy pattern against his tensing muscles and Sasuke only had to pump in once- twice more before he felt himself go over the edge, emptying all he had into Naruto's malleable body.

They stayed locked up like that for a few moments, heavy breathing taking place of pleasured screams in the room as both came back down to Earth.

Slowly, Sasuke pushed himself up onto jelly legs to slide his spent length from Naruto's body, feeling a content heat trickle up his spine as a trail of cum followed close behind. The blond in question was still breathing harshly, though a low flush of gratification staining his body belied any discontent.

Leaning forward on his palms, Sasuke dragged a kiss over those parted lips, smiling despite himself when they instantly parted against him. It was so rare to see Naruto this submissive and normally Sasuke would find such actions a nuisance, but for the time being their bodies were so sated and hearts so calm that he couldn't find himself displeased at all.

And it was when Naruto hooked his arm around Sasuke's neck to roll the pale boy back into the bed that Sasuke gave up the thought of cleaning them up at all. He didn't think he'd be leaving this bed smelling of sweat for anything with the way those heady eyes inebriated him.

He couldn't ever regret this.

He wouldn't.

This was a drug he'd be sure to drown himself in for as long as the blond would have him.

And with a soft sigh and a peck on the lips, they snuggled into each other and slept.


	28. Chapter 28

A/N: the last lovely! thank you for reading :)

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**Lovely #28**

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Naruto's favorite part of the day was waking up.

He was always the first- Sasuke never really being a morning person anyway- and his natural internal clock would go off each and every day without a hitch, provided Sasuke wasn't already keeping him busy beneath the sheets.

It started with the birds chirping outside, not too loudly but just enough to sing a sweet melody along with the morning traffic of cars and pedestrians outside in tune with the light breeze coming in through their second story window.

It still hadn't been long since moving into the new place, but Naruto loved it already.

Stretching his arms above his head, he sat up with a roll of his shoulders, having to muffle a derisive snort at the way Sasuke slept. Contrary to popular belief, he has terrible sleeping posture: limbs flailed out this way and that, mouth open and brows still crunched together despite it all. Like he went to sleep with a scowl.

Lucky for his lover, he didn't drool.

Naruto flipped over onto his knees, keeping quiet and stealthy on the springs as he leaned forward to tilt both sides of Sasuke's bangs upwards, knowing with a secretive smile that if he slept longer, they'd stay that way.

With a little shimmy, he was off the bed, hissing lightly as he stepped onto the bathroom tiles to relieve himself, water running softly as he washed his hands and ran his fingers through his hair. Not like he needed to really get up and ready for the day anyway, since Sasuke had taken the day off.

'Naruto time,' he thought to himself with a smarmy little smile, whiskers poking up with the way his lips crinkled.

Finding his bright orange fox slippers- he and Natsuki had picked out three pairs of them for the previous Christmas- he slipped out into the hallway and down the stairs to the landing at the bottom.

Right, coffee first.

He went about the morning ritual, knowing exactly what kinds of smells needed to waft upstairs to attract certain little bodies.

"Daddddyyyyyyy," came the sleepywhinyincoherent groaning through the doorway.

He looked up from the stove to his daughter and had to hold back the laughter wanting to break out. If there was one thing she got from her father, minus the genetics, it was the way her hair stuck straight up in a mass of curls from sleeping so hard on it.

"Hey, Bub. C'mere."

She let out a little affirmative grunt, feet covered in soft cloth padding over to him and reaching her little arms up. Floppy tentacles came up from the movement as well as he leaned down to scoop her up and onto his hip with one arm.

"Smells gooooooddddd..."

"Na, little octopii need their nutrition." He pulled off a piece of egg and prodded at it with a fork, blowing lightly until it was cool enough for her to munch on. "Now, how about you go wake Papa up while I finish this, okay?"

Still half asleep, eyelids lowered, Natsuki flipped up her octopus hood, curls frushing out and around as she nodded her head in violent affirmation.

Naruto put her down and she trampled off with a little salute, arms sticking out slightly with how fat the octosuit puffed out on her.

Naruto only shook his head, nearly dropping the plates he'd precariously balanced on his arms as he walked to the dining table with the resounding shout of "PAPA!" and the subsequent OOMPH that followed.

Only a few minutes later a sleepy Natsuki back down in the foyer, balanced carefully atop an equally sleepy Sasuke's shoulders.

"Good morning, my lovely little snuggle bugs."

"Nfhndhjkdsngfd."

"Love you too."

It was with a quick kiss to Sasuke's morning-breathed mouth that the little trio hunkered down for breakfast.


End file.
